Passing Silhouettes
by Intrepid Daydreamer
Summary: "Come with us or stay here. It's your choice." People had never held much significance for me; just passing silhouettes in the night, gone by morning light. But the way he held my gaze was inviting, and I found myself at a crossroads. A promise of adventure and discovery awaited me. I felt something inside shift. I nodded and he smiled. My choice was made and my fate sealed.
1. Chapter 1

Well, here we are! Hi! My friends call me Han, and this is my story to ever go up on fanfiction! I'm really excited!

I've been needing practice writing in the first person, so I decided that this little story that's been bouncing around in my head for the past few years would be a great exercise! So honestly, any help regarding the way the story is written is welcome. It should follow the main story of the game pretty well until some later chapters where I will be taking some artistic liberties and switching things up to make them a bit more interesting.

Here we go!

* * *

With a horrible squelching sound, my blade tore through the throat of the final beast. It staggered a step before falling helplessly to the ground. Thick blood bubbled from the hole torn in its neck, soaking into the ground as the creature struggled to draw in a breath. A harsh shudder ran through its frame before falling eerily still. Dead.

"That was rather disappointing," I mused.

' _And, pray tell, just what about it was disappointing?'_

"It's just that these ones," I said, sweeping my arm in a broad gesture at the bodies that littered the ground around my feet, "made it all the way to the base of the tree. I guess I expected more from them."

The quiet echoed around my head when the voice didn't respond. I took the moment to wipe the blood from my sword. The jewel at its pommel glittered harshly as it caught the light of a stray moonbeam as I replaced it in its sheath at my shoulder.

Another look around me assured me that all of the monsters were, in fact, dead, and that I had little else to worry about for the time being. The tree was safe.

Rolling my shoulders, I started down the path that led to the rest of the village. Most of the fighting happened on the outskirts of the town, and though it was weak, the barrier did a decent job holding back the monsters that had gotten past the first line of defense. Those that did get through were subject to the fraction of townspeople who were brave enough to fight.

That said, there were always a few that managed to break past and head toward the tree. Monsters seemed to have a strange sense for blastia, and always honed in on the tree as a target in their rampage. The barrier had to be protected at all costs, and that's usually where I come in.

My father used to fill the role of the last defense, and I had taken up the mantle since I returned to Halure a few years ago. The tree had never been harmed during his time, a record I intended to keep intact for his memory.

The rest of the town was alive despite the late hour, lit faintly by the barrier's flickering light. People had placed lanterns every few yards, giving light to the main path. Happy shouts sounded from the plaza, and a small smile worked its way onto my face.

"Ah, there you are, my dear!" An older man fought his way through the mass of celebrating people to stand by my side. A small boy that I had never seen before followed in his shadow. "It seems that we have won the day! The monsters retreated some time ago. I trust that all is well on your end?"

' _No, she left her post to the mercy of the monsters to spite you.'_

I nodded shortly. "Yes. The tree is safe."

"Wonderful! Just wonderful! I knew we could count on you."

I eyed the fidgeting boy behind the mayor. He shrunk under my gaze and I raised an eyebrow as the mayor turned to address him.

"Karol, would you mind running back to the edge of the barrier and calling everybody else in? I would like to make an announcement." With a salute, the boy disappeared.

"So who's the kid?"

The mayor sighed, and motioned me to follow him toward the center of town. "His name is Carol, says he's from a guild. The Hunting Blades, as luck would have it. He did a wonderful job assisting those outside the barrier."

' _The Hunting Blades? But he's a child.'_ The voice sounded as confused as I felt.

"We hired the Hunting Blades this year? That's a bit much, isn't it?"

"No, no, dear girl, paying for their protection would cost us a fortune! He just happened to be passing through. When the alarm sounded, he jumped in to help."

' _How fortuitous.'_

"In fact," he continued, coming to a stop, "he wasn't the only one passing through whose assistance was welcome."

My eyes narrowed as I scanned the growing crowd in front of us for anyone else I didn't recognize. A flash of silver on the outskirts of the celebration, out of place in a town full of craftsmen, caught my attention after a few moments.

"The Imperial Knights."

The mayor nodded and waved them over. Two men and a woman stood before us, standing tall in their armor.

"Hello, Mr. Mayor!" the brunette soldier smiled in greeting. The red-haired woman by his side did the same, and the blonde in the back smiled softly. "That's some party going on!"

With a hearty laugh, the mayor clapped the knight on the shoulder. "There is much to celebrate, my boy! The day has been won!"

Karol chose this moment to return. The mayor left to address the townspeople, leaving the five of us to watch over the crowd from afar.

"The Imperial Knights," I mused after some time. I found the whole situation curious. When I noticed that I had their attention, I crossed my arms. "Tell me then, why are you here? It's not like the Commandant sent you to protect us. Nobody knew that the barrier would weaken this early. That, and we're usually guild territory. Sending you would cause tension between the guilds and the Empire, wouldn't it?"

"We're on a pilgrimage," explained the blonde soldier when his comrades looked to be at a loss for words. He continued in a soft voice. "We happened to be passing through when the barrier began to weaken, and we wanted to lend a hand in any way we could."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "How noble."

"You are the one charged with the defense of the tree, are you not?" chimed the woman.

I nodded once.

"You don't look like much."

 _'That was rude.'_ And that was an understatement.

Blinking slowly, I shrugged carelessly. "So long as the tree is safe, I don't have to look like much, now do I?"

After a beat of shocked silence, laughter bubbled past the lips of the brunette in the group. "Man, she showed you, huh Sodia?" He patted the girl on the back as she sputtered indignantly.

Wiping his eyes, he smiled at me, then offered his hand. "I'm Liam. Liam Horth, and the others are Flynn and Sodia. Nice to meet you!"

Warily, I took his hand and shook it. He held on a moment longer than I would have liked, and I had to pull back before he let go. "Isadora."

"Miss Isadora," the one called Flynn cut in, "do you think you could show us to the tree? It doesn't seem as though there is much left to do here tonight."

A cheer went up from the assembled crowd. The mayor stood before them, waving as they dispersed, most of them heading home for the night.

' _There is no harm in it, child,'_ prompted the voice when I had been silent a heartbeat too long.

"I'd like to see it too, if you don't mind," squeaked a small voice.

We all turned to see the boy, Karol, scratching awkwardly at the back of his head. He had been quiet for the majority of the exchange and I had forgotten that he was standing behind the knights.

"Sure," I allowed with a sigh. "I'll show you the way."

The knights immediately struck up a conversation with Karol as I led us back up the hill to the base of the tree. They probably felt bad for forgetting he was standing there too.

' _A curious child, isn't he?'_

"I suppose so," I answered quietly. "I don't understand how he is a member of such a notorious guild at his age. He doesn't have the personality I thought one of them would have. He's almost... timid."

' _Well, he doesn't have to look like much, does he?'_ the voice echoed my earlier words back to me.

I scoffed. "I never said he didn't look the part. That sword he carries around takes care of that. I was really talking about his demeanor."

Behind me, I heard the high pitch of the boy grow higher with nerves as the knights continued to bombard him with questions.

' _I can see what you mean.'_

Arriving at the top of the hill, I sidestepped the mess of fallen bodies as I made my way to the tree's massive roots.

"She'll be around here somewhere, let me know if you spot her?"

 _'Of course.'_

"Holy… What happened here?" Liam asked.

"Did you do all of this?"

Turning, I saw Flynn kneeling by the body of some monster, looking up at me expectantly. Liam and Sodia were wandering around the clearing, eyes wide as they surveyed the damage. Karol hung back by the path, nervously clutching at his sword.

I nodded and took a seat on one of the roots, stroking absently at the wood. "This is where I'm stationed on nights like tonight. Not a lot of them actually get all the way here, but it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to protecting the barrier."

"Not a lot?" Liam sounded incredulous. "Is, there have to be more than a dozen bodies here."

"Seventeen, I think," I corrected with a shrug, ignoring the nickname. Karol came and stood by the base of the tree, looking up to scan the barrier symbol above the top of its highest branches. "Tonight was pretty tame."

Sodia nodded, a smirk playing at her lips. "I'll admit, I'm impressed that you managed this all by yourself."

"Not by myself, "I admitted, sitting up a bit straighter. "I actually- "

I was cut off by a low growl coming from behind me. The knights all moved to ready their weapons. Karol choked and paced back a few steps.

' _Found her.'_

I turned, at ease, to face glowing yellow eyes as they blinked in the darkness. A lithe shadow jumped gracefully down from where it had been hiding in the roots until it landed, crouched, on the ground in front of me.

Glossy black fur reflected the starlight, making the single, orange stripe across the top of its muzzle visible. A spiked tail was ringed in the same orange, and the scales lining its backbone bristled to mirror the creature's agitated state.

Liam, who was closest to the creature, drew his sword and held it ready. "Is, I think you missed one."

I just crossed my arms behind my head and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. "I don't miss."

"Is that a Bengal Beast?" I heard Karol breathe. "They're really rare and super tough! I thought the Hunting Blades had wiped them from existence a few years ago, but I guess they missed one."

I nodded at his words. The kid knew what he was talking about.

"Okay, well let's take out this one too," Sodia prompted. The beast snarled in response, sinking low to the ground.

"Be careful, Liam," warned Flynn. His own sword was drawn and was pointing at the creature. "We don't know much about this monster, and it looks intelligent."

"Of course she's intelligent," I scoffed. "She's intelligent enough to know that you're planning on hurting her, and she doesn't like you for it." Crossing my arms, I glared at the people before me. "I don't like you much for that either."

I sighed at their bewildered looks.

 _'Just tell them before they actually harm her,'_ the voice suggested. _'I grow tired of this farce.'_

"Delta," I called. The creature's ears twitched at the sound of my voice. "That's enough. Come here."

The creature huffed and shook its head. Continuing to glare at the weapons pointed at her, she hopped onto the root I was sitting on and laid down on my legs. She roared once more at the knights, and Karol whimpered.

"Wait, what?"

I chose to ignore Liam as I stroked the soft fur behind Delta's ears. Her muscles slowly relaxed at my touch. Eventually, her eyes closed and she pushed her head into my hand, her chest rumbling as she purred.

"Would you look at that." Flynn laughed softly as he returned his sword to its sheath.

Liam just flipped his sword onto the ground and took a seat. "I feel dumb."

"You look pretty dumb too," I said. Delta sneezed, agreeing with me.

Karol still looked wary, but he took a step toward us. Delta blinked down at him and tilted her head in curiosity. She huffed at him, making his hair flutter around his face. Shakily, he reached a hand out, holding it still a few inches from her nose. Her eyes closed, and she pressed her head into his hand. Karol laughed as he pet her carefully.

"She's yours then?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Not mine so much as I take care of her and she takes care of me. She's my partner."

"Hey, Isa!" a voice called from the path. "We're going to start burning carcasses now, so we'll take these ones away if you don't mind."

"Right," I answered, shooing Delta off my legs. "Let's get going then."

"There's no need, there are enough of us to handle these. You've done enough for us today!" A crowd of people joined us at the base of the tree and got to work moving the bodies to the plaza to be burned. I allowed a soft smile as I nodded my thanks.

"Come on Delta, let's get out of their way."

The three knights decided to stay and help the townspeople, and I parted their company with a wave. Karol followed me down the hill.

"They seemed nice," he said after a moment of silence

I scoffed. "I suppose. They did help defend the town today. I heard that you did too?"

The kid straightened his spine with pride. "I sure did! We kicked their butts!"

"I'm sure you did. Thank you for that." I turned to head down a lesser used path to the right, Delta running on ahead to our house. "So tell me, Karol, what brought you to Halure? The mayor said you were just passing through."

"I've heard stories about Halure's barrier before, but I never thought I'd get the chance to see it for myself. It's pretty cool, really, and the tree is ginormous! Who would've thought that a tree could grow to be that big?"

I smiled softly at his excitement. "How old are you, Karol?" Our tree _was_ legendary, but the ones who showed this kind of enthusiasm were usually quite young.

He stood up a bit straighter and puffed out his chest as he answered. "I'm twelve!"

I nodded to myself. That made sense. "Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it? Just wait until it blooms."

I saw his face light up as he glanced back at me. "I can't wait to show-" He stopped suddenly, staring at a spot above my head.

"Is," he began slowly, his words coming out faster and faster as his anxiety grew. "Is that supposed to happen? I don't think that's supposed to happen. Why is that happening?" He was pointing towards the top of the tree

Curious, I turned and found the cause of Karol's panic. The barrier's seal was glowing brightly, more so than what should've been possible. I took quick breath before taking a few paces back up the path.

 _'Well this looks interesting,'_ I heard my mind murmur. I huffed in response, and continued watching the abnormality. The light grew more and more blinding until it suddenly winked out.

As I blinked the spots from my vision, I heard Karol whimpering beside me.

"The barrier, it's..."

"Gone." This shouldn't have happened. "How could it just disappear?"

 _'I didn't know that that was possible.'_

"I didn't think that was possible." Karol had echoed the voice almost perfectly.

I was quiet for a moment before I narrowed my eyes and answered both in a whisper. "It shouldn't be."

The boy's hands were shaking in the pale light, and his face was horror stricken. "What do we do?" His voice was quivering as well.

A harsh gust of wind shook the tree, drowning out the panicked sounds of the town drifting up the path. Then, as quickly as it had disappeared, the seal burst back into life. The town was bathed in its soothing light once more, though it was considerably dimmer this time.

"I don't understand," whimpered Karol. "What just happened?"

I pinched at the bridge of my nose and sighed. "This happens every year. Right before the tree blooms, the barrier weakens. Though I've never seen it go completely out like that…"

' _Something is not right.'_

"I know," I answered quietly. "But what?"

"Is?" I turned to face him. "I'm going to find the mayor and see if there's anything else I can do."

I nodded, then turned back toward my house, finally feeling exhaustion set into my bones. "I'm going home. Come find me if anything else happens, alright?"

* * *

Delta woke me early the next morning with a low whine. The sun was just beginning to peak through my window, and I rolled over in bed to open it further. Leaning on the sill, I took a deep breath of the clear air. Delta jumped onto the bed and nuzzled at my chest.

I stroked her ears absently, my mind on the blastia. I studied what I could see of the tree. It looked relatively normal for this time of year. Blossoms were slowly starting to bloom on the very ends of the outermost branches, lightly dusting the tree with pink.

' _Isadora, do you see that?'_

I rubbed at my eyes with a yawn. "Honestly, I'm not awake enough to see much. What are you talking about?"

' _The barrier, child. It's not there.'_

"It's probably just out again. It should come back soon enough." I rolled out of bed and stretched my arms above my head. Delta huffed before jumping out the window. I ran a hand through my hair, then quickly braided it back and tied it off with one of the ribbons at my wrist.

Pulling on a clean shirt, I sighed. "I'll go check it out if it'll make you happy."

When the voice didn't respond, I laced up my boots and grabbed an apple from the basket on the table. I grabbed my sword from its place by the door, opting to just carry it today. Stepping out, I put up a hand to block the sunlight from my eyes.

Halure was a beautiful town, if not a bit too quiet. The people were easygoing and kind. They genuinely cared for each other, and worked hard to keep things peaceful. I waved good morning to an elderly couple out for a morning stroll as I returned to the base of the tree. It was easy to tell why my father chose to settle here when looking for a place to raise me.

The carcasses had long since been removed from the little clearing, the only evidence that they had ever been there being the discolored patches of ground where their blood had soaked into the ground.

"Alright, any ideas for what I should be looking for?" My voice was laced with sarcasm as I questioned the voice in my head.

' _Do not sass me,'_ it huffed. _'I am simply concerned for the wellbeing of the tree as well as for the future of the town should something have happened to the barrier.'_

"Fair enough," I smiled. Delta came by, twining herself between my legs. "Alright girl, let's get to work."

After almost an hour of searching for something out of place, we came up empty handed. I took a seat with my back against the trunk of the great tree.

"No scratches on the bark, noting wrong with the roots, the blossoms that are coming in look healthy, and I have no idea what else to look for, man." I pressed the palms of my hands into my eyes. "Yet the barrier is still out. This isn't good."

Delta whined and laid her head in my lap.

' _Something is not right,'_ the voice insisted.

"Hey, I believe you!" I said. "There just isn't anything here to suggest that something is wrong."

There was a groaning, then a loud _SNAP_ and a branch came crashing down from the lower levels of the tree, landing just a few feet in front of where I was sitting. Delta was on her feet in a heartbeat, low to the ground and ears up, ready to act at a moment's notice.

My eyes grew wide. "Alright, that isn't normal."

I slowly crawled over to the fallen branch, lightly patting Delta on my way over. The branch wasn't particularly large, only a few feet long and about the thickness of my arm. I ran my hand along its bark, growing increasingly concerned when pieces came off easily in my hand. Examining the end that had snapped from the rest of the tree, I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

' _It's dead?'_

I looked up at the rest of the tree, scanning it for any signs of other dead branches. My mind raced as I tried to pinpoint a cause.

"That's not right, between the Aspio mages and the herbalists here they take ridiculously good care of the tree. All of the dead branches were pruned just last week. Nothing should be this dead already." What was going on?

Delta was pawing at the ground near the base of the tree. When she saw that I was looking in her direction, she tossed her head and laid down, her tail flicking impatiently. I moved to kneel by her side, brushing my hand over the discolored ground that had been called to my attention.

"Is! I saw the branch fall, are you okay?" Karol came running up the path, slightly out of breath.

I waved a hand dismissively. "I'm fine, but the tree isn't."

"Yeah, I noticed that the barrier was still down." His voice was serious and his eyes dark, reflecting the severity of the situation. "Do you know what's going on?"

I shook my head. "I don't understand, the only thing that's remotely out of place is just blood left from the fight last night."

Karol grew quiet, staring at the dark spot on the ground. "Well some monster's blood have high levels of toxins that are harmful to living things around it. It's like a last resort self-defense mechanism. Sort of dissuades the attacker from coming after it again."

' _If that is true about the monsters from last night, the tree might have been poisoned from the blood.'  
_

"Karol," I asked, "do you think that the blood could be killing the tree? I can't think of anything else that could be causing it."

"I think it's a definite possibility," he answered confidently. "Let's go tell the mayor, maybe he'll know what to do."

I rose to my feet, peering into the high branches of the tree as I did so. If the tree was dying, there was no guessing what that could mean for the people of Halure. When the blastia fused with the tree, the fate of the town became irreversibly intertwined with the fate of the tree. Without the tree, the barrier might never be resurrected, and the people wouldn't be able to afford to replace such a precious resource. The City of Blossoms would die.

My hands balled to fists and I called Delta to my side before turning to face Karol.

"Lead the way, kid."

* * *

Woohoo, end chapter one! Guys, meet Isadora! Her nickname around town, Isa, is pronounced ee-sa, kind of like that iguana from Dora!

Also!

I have the first few chapters of this story drafted, but before I really delve into this beast, I want to know if anybody is actually interested in this! So! I hate to do this, but I am going to wait until this chapter has **2 reviews** before I post the next one!

Hopefully I'll see you guys in about a week with the next chapter!

 _-Han_


	2. Chapter 2

Hooray for continuing this story! This time we're back with chapter two and some shenanigans in Halure!

Thanks again to _black angel's wing_ and _Blue-Black Flames_ for reviewing, you guys are great!

* * *

"I'm not going with you, Karol."

"But why not?"

"You're strong enough to find and kill an eggbear on your own, you really don't need me to escort you."

"But, but the woods are haunted!"

I sighed and stopped walking. Karol walked straight into me, too agitated to notice. He played with his hands nervously, his eyes wide and sad.

' _Take pity on him, please,_ ' begged the voice. _'I cannot handle his sad face any longer.'_

I eventually lost that argument, and that is pretty much how I ended up accompanying Karol to the Quoi Woods in search of an eggbear.

"I hope you're happy," I said through gritted teeth as I followed the boy down through a field. The voice didn't respond, but I could feel the echoes of laugher running through my mind.

The woods were home to a great number of unique plants and animals, and were actually very interesting to explore. I frequented them whenever the town needed specific, uncommon supplies. The myth that they were haunted was, of course, untrue, though no amount of certainty would convince Karol otherwise. I kept that information in my back pocket for later.

Once we reached the edge of the woods, Delta took the lead, scouting the path ahead. Karol fell into step alongside me and we struck up an easy conversation.

"So that's how I got to be in the Hunting Blades!" Karol finished his grand story with a flourish.

"Mmm that's nice." I hadn't really been paying attention, too focused on where we were headed. Delta seemed at ease, trotting carelessly through the underbrush off to the right. We were getting deeper into the woods, close to an eggbear den that I had come across some months ago. With any luck, the little family would be elsewhere and we wouldn't have to kill them.

"So what about you, Is?"

"What?" The voice sighed at my undignified response.

"Like, what's your story?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You met me yesterday and already want to know my life story?"

He grinned, nodding. "You're really cool and nice and I want to know more about you! Everybody seems to really respect you back in Halure."

"I don't know, kiddo," I sighed. "It's not a very exciting story."

"I'm not a kid," he huffed in response, crossing his arms.

' _Not very convincing, what with that pout on his lips,'_ the voice quipped.

I echoed it, serving only to rain further on his parade.

"Convince me you aren't a kid and I'll consider a different nickname," I teased lightly. I didn't see the harm in making a small promise. He'd be leaving soon and I'd probably never see him again.

"Just you wait, Is!" he yelled. "I'll kill the eggbear all by myself and then you'll see that I'm not just a kid!"

Just then, Delta dropped her stomach to the ground and let loose a low-pitched growl. Immediately on guard, my hand moved to finger the hilt of my sword. I heard voices were coming from around a bend in the path ahead a few tense moments later.

Karol, who clearly hadn't heard them, panicked and jumped into the foliage off to our left.

' _Definitely more than a child,'_ mused the voice.

I rolled my eyes before following the boy who was now crouched in the bushes. "Are you alright?"

His eyes were strangely determined and the grip he had on his sword, which was entirely too huge for him to possibly wield comfortably, showed the strength of his resolve. He didn't respond, instead intently watching the path we had just left. Confused, Delta came to stand beside us. I shrugged at her confused look.

The voices got closer.

Karol closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath before launching himself out of hiding with a battle cry.

"P-prepare to die, eggbear!"

Delta blinked at me and I could only sigh in response. He sure was something else.

The sound of blades clashing brought me back to the present, and my sword was immediately in my hand. Delta dashed out of the bushes with a roar and threw herself at the creature that was approaching a downed Karol.

She caught it by the back of the neck and flipped it to the ground, baring her fangs with a viscous snarl as they squared off. The creature, a dog, shook off its shock at the attack and prepared itself as well, growling lowly. They slowly circled each other.

"Repede!" The sound of a sword being drawn accompanied the surprised shout. I decided to join the little party before anybody was seriously hurt.

I slid out of the bush and met the man's outstretched sword with my own, stopping his advance before I danced back a few steps to increase the distance between us.

"Who are you?" a feminine voice cried from behind the man. "What do you want with us?"

My eyes locked with the swordsman's, unconcerned. He glared back.

"Is," I heard Karol breathe.

"You alright, back there?" I called. His huge sword had been cleaved in half. Had this swordsman done that? At his affirmation, I rolled my wrist and nodded at the man in front of me. "Alright, so what gives? Who are you?"

The harsh line that was this guy's mouth let me know that he wouldn't give up that information easily, but his friend in the pink behind him wasn't as hesitant.

"My name is Estelle, and his is Yuri." Yuri sighed and narrowed his eyes. "Now, please, tell us why you attacked us!"

A yelp sounded from the scuffling animals, and Yuri and I broke eye contact to glance over in concern. Both Delta and the dog seemed fine, but the way the fur at Delta's neck stood on end betrayed her agitation. I stole a look at Yuri, whose calm exterior made me wary. This wouldn't end well.

' _Unless you end it.'_

My teeth clenched in annoyance. I hated when it was right.

With a sigh, I sheathed my sword and called for Delta. Her ears twitched in my direction, focus still on the dog in front of her.

"Come on, Delta, that's enough."

"Repede," I heard Yuri call out.

The animals disengaged, albeit reluctantly, and returned to our sides. Delta wrapped herself around one of my legs and I rubbed at her ears to soothe her. She hissed at Repede in response.

"I think there may be a small misunderstanding," I allowed after a few moments. "Karol didn't mean to attack you."

"NO, no, I thought you were an eggbear!" the boy gushed. "See, we just really need to find one before it's too late, and I guess I got a little excited when I heard you guys coming that I didn't think to actually look."

I left the explanation to Karol and took the moment to slow my racing heart.

' _Nervous, were you?'_

"No, excited," I whispered with a grin. "Look at him. He's confident and by the way he holds himself you can tell that he knows what he's doing with that sword."

Yuri clearly had a thing for black. The color was present in everything; wat he was wearing, in the color of his hair, and in his eyes, which now sparkled with a bit of humor instead of burning with hatred.

' _Interesting.'_

"You can say that again."

Delta sneezed, grabbing my attention once more, and I knelt down to check her over. She nuzzled at my hand, unharmed and just wanting attention.

"So, Is, was it?" I heard Yuri ask. I tucked a stray strand of hair back behind my ear and stood, not responding. "Karol here says that you're from Halure. Think you can lead us out of these woods and into town?"

He was extending an olive branch, which was kind, but I wasn't much in the mood to play travel guide any more than I already was for Karol. He just raised an eyebrow when I told him as much. He was wary of me already, and that didn't help any.

' _Yes, that is precisely how you go about making amends. Well done.'_

"Oh," the girl – Estelle? – exclaimed, "maybe we can help you find what you're looking for first, and you can take us to Halure in return!"

Karol immediately agreed, excited to show off his knowledge for the strangers. He started going off about being in a guild again. I tuned him out and started back down the path toward the den, Delta in step beside me.

The other three kept up a light chatter, discussing Halure's tree and its current predicament.

"But how are we going to find an eggbear?" Estelle asked a few minutes later. "I don't think Yuri and I saw any on our way here."

"There's a den not too far from here," I explained shortly. "As soon as we reach the edge of her territory, the mother will come out to protect her cubs."

Estelle sounded thoughtful. "So maybe if we're lucky we can just cut off a part of her claw and then leave?"

"No, we have to kill her and remove the whole claw for the panacea bottle if we're going to heal the tree!" Karol yelled. "It'll be no problem, you'll see! The Hunting Blades are famous for hunting monsters; we don't waste time making friends with them."

Delta turned and growled at the boy, who stumbled back a few paces to stand behind Yuri. Repede tossed his head in annoyance. The man in black looked up at me with his eyebrows raised as Karol scrambled to take his foot out of his mouth. I blew a short breath out through my nose and shook my head.

' _She's here.'_

The eggbear tore through the trees to our right with a roar that made my hair stand on end. Karol gasped, fumbling with his weapon, and Estelle and Yuri each drew their swords. I followed their lead slowly.

I'm not against killing monsters. If they're a threat to I'm protecting someone or to myself I will gladly take them out. Most of them are angry creatures out for blood who revel in causing destruction. But stereotyping them to all behave that way is wrong.

The eggbear charged.

Delta is a Bengal Beast. A monster. But she isn't horrible. She never was. She's actually a huge softie who loves attention and cuddles and would protect anybody who shows her kindness with her life.

Karol let out a battle cry, then fell to the back to let Yuri take charge.

My father brought a monster cub home when I was six. We named him Mace. He was hurt and scared, but we showered him with love, and he came to trust us just as any domesticated animal would. When I lost my father, Mace became my best friend.

The eggbear took a swing at Estelle that left its back exposed to me. I hesitated and the opportunity was lost.

When I returned to Halure a few years back, Mace disappeared into these same woods for over a month. He returned with a cub. As he got older, he stayed around the town more instead of adventuring with me, letting his daughter take his place. I named her Delta.

The eggbear let out a pained wail when Yuri scored a deep cut on its shoulder. Repede slashed at its back with – was that a dagger in his mouth?

This monster was just protecting its family. Was it right to kill it for something like that?

' _Isadora,'_ the voice chimed. _'It is time for you to choose between the life of this creature and the lives of the townspeople.'_

"I know, I know. Just shut up," I growled back and went on the offensive.

I slid past a surprised Yuri to slash at the back of the eggbear's legs. She swung a thick arm my way as she bared her teeth. Rolling out of the way, I let Yuri steal her attention again so I could plan. He apparently wasn't used to these monsters and was still searching for a way past the eggbear's think arms. Estelle was hanging back and staying out of the way, which made sense if she was the healer she looked to be. Karol had disappeared, but I didn't have time to look for him and honestly didn't much care.

The monster turned to face me and I sighed. Teeth bared, she swung her arm around high and fast. I guarded easily, catching the claws on the flat of my blade. One step toward her redirected them off my sword and past my back. Not meeting the expected resistance, momentum forced the rest of her body to stumble past me.

I rolled my wrist to bring my sword back to ready and slashed upward as I whirled around. My blade bit deep into the eggbear's soft chest as it struggled to maintain balance. A soft, pained exhale sounded from its lips as I flicked my wrist to clear my blade of its blood.

Not looking at the creature, I sheathed my sword and called for Delta, who had run off, probably to search for Karol. She had a soft spot for the boy. She stayed dutifully by my side as I stalked away from the eggbear as it drew its final breath.

"Take the claw," I said to a silent Yuri as I passed him.

Estelle joined me as Yuri knelt next to the monster, offering to heal me again. I shook her off. Healing artes always reacted strangely to me. Karol appeared then as well, pretending as though he had been there the whole time, ready to jump in if things went south.

"Glad you had our backs, kid." I tried not to roll my eyes too hard. He _was_ a kid after all, and eggbears weren't the average monster. It took me months and months of practice to find their weak points and hit them hard enough to take them down quickly.

I still rolled my eyes pretty hard.

Yuri chose that moment to sneak up behind Karol and roar in his ear. I worked to hide a soft smile as they goofed around, somewhat glad that someone else had taken to teasing this so-called guildsman so I didn't have to do it myself.

However, it was getting late. Darkness would fall soon, and the Quoi Woods were not an ideal place to spend the night.

"If you guys are done," I interjected, "I think it's best to be heading back. You're still heading to Halure, right?" I motioned north when Estelle nodded.

Delta, as usual, took the lead, dragging Karol with her. Estelle and Repede followed behind, leaving Yuri and I standing next to one another.

He gave me a look and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're kind of interesting," he allowed after a few moments. I started walking, knowing that he would follow. "It took you a while to get involved back there, but you took that thing down pretty easily once you started."

"An astute observation." I felt him roll his eyes at my flippant response.

"Come on, I'm just trying to have a casual conversation. Help me out here." His tone was light, but I sensed that there was more to it than he let on.

I scratched the end of my nose as I thought. "I know these monsters well. Killing them is easy if you know where to strike."

"But you didn't want to kill it right away."

"No."

He kept digging. "It's because of your… What exactly is your cat? It's because she's a monster too?"

I scoffed before answering. "Delta is a Bengal Beast. They're nearly extinct, and yes. It has to do with her."

"Alright, I can respect that." Yuri held his free hand up in surrender. "I can't know what that's like, but it makes enough sense to me."

We walked in what felt like a companionable silence for a while before Karol brought up the question of bodhi blastia. The blastia at Estelle's wrist wasn't so out of place once it was revealed that she was a noble, and it made sense for Karol to have one as well, as he belonged to a hunting guild. I absently played with the long chain around my neck as they talked.

"I used to be a part of the Imperial Knights." I focused a little more as Yuri continued. He had been a knight? "This was sort of a going away present."

"Sounds more like you stole it to me," sassed Karol. I choked back a laugh at the indignant look on Yuri's face.

"Hey!"

"Oh no, Yuri isn't a thief!" Estelle cut in. "The whole reason we are travelling is because he is tracking down someone who stole something!"

Just then, we reached the edge of the woods and Karol let out a shout of joy. "It's not much father to Halure now!" He took off in the direction of town at a run. Estelle laughed as she followed, both animals at her heels.

"You're chasing a thief?" I asked as I broke out into a light jog. "That's noble."

Yuri grew more serious than I expected him to. "Somebody stole the aque blastia from the capital city's lower quarter. I intend to get it back."

We left it at that, lapsing back into silence. Halure's tree grew larger on the horizon, and we reached the edge of town just as darkness was beginning to settle in. I grimaced a bit as the colors of the fading sun played on the tree, making it look dead.

As we walked toward the center of town, I could see Karol speaking with the shopkeeper and Estelle conversing with the mayor. When she spotted us, she bowed quickly and ran over.

"Yuri, the mayor tells me that Flynn has been here!" I knew that name.

"Is that so." Yuri didn't sound too impressed.

She looked worried, her hands folded close to her chest. "I hope he's alright."

"He was fine when he left this morning," I said, walking away from them. I wanted to go check on the tree, but Estelle grabbed me by the arm before I could get very far.

"You saw Flynn?"

I leaned away from her expectant face. "Yeah, I think so. He's the blonde knight; nice and good with a sword?" She nodded several times. "He and a few other knights, were here when the barrier failed the other night. They left earlier today for Aspio. They were trying to find a mage that could help restore the barrier. Can you please let go of me?"

Estelle, not deterred in the slightest, kept her vice-like grip on my upper arm as she turned to an amused Yuri. "Aspio!"

"They should be there by now." I squirmed. "Seriously, Estelle, let go."

Karol, bless the boy's heart, came running up with a small glass bottle in his hand, shook it around in a sort of dance, then started running for the tree. Estelle ( _finally_ ) released my arm, latching onto Yuri instead. With a huge smile, she led him in the direction Karol had gone.

' _You do realize that this will not work_ ,' sounded the voice.

I sighed. "I know." The area the potion had to cover was too large for the small bottle that Karol had been holding. Even if this was the best way to fix it, we couldn't possibly heal the tree completely with what we had. "But unless you have a better idea, it's the best we can do."

Delta nudged the back of my leg, and I allowed myself to be led to the base of the great tree. Karol was kneeling at the bloodstain closest to the roots, bottle in hand and cap by his side. Estelle was looking up at the branches hopefully and Yuri stood by with his hand on his hip.

"Here we go," Karol announced. After one more deep breath, he upturned the bottle, letting its contents flood out onto the ground.

Nobody breathed for a full minute.

Then a light, warm and bright, the color of the tree's petals, started to glow from the tree itself. It grew steadily in size and intensity, and I felt my heartbeat grow fast alongside it.

"Please," Estelle begged.

The light went out.

My eyes fluttered closed and my hands balled to fists.

' _We knew that this would happen, child. Do not be upset.'_

"That doesn't make it any easier," I hissed back. I felt as though I had been stabbed through the chest. The tree was going to die and I couldn't stop it.

"Please, Great Tree," came Estelle's soft voice. Sparing her a glance, I noticed a faint golden halo in the air around her. She was preparing a healing arte. I almost told her to stop, that it wouldn't do any good, but I lacked the strength.

"Bloom."

As soon as the girl had finished casting her arte, the tree exploded into bloom. Pink blossoms filled every branch in an instant, and the air was soon filled with a soft shower of their petals. The barrier seal burst into life, burning bright and strong into the night sky as the rings that were the physical proof of its power settled in around the town once more. The townspeople let out a massive cheer, cries and shouts echoing up the hill. Karol was laughing and jumping in his excitement.

"Oh." I added my own soft exclamation to their celebration as I fell to my knees. I hugged Delta close to my chest. The town would be safe. The barrier had been restored.

' _Curious.'_

I ignored it, as usual, in favor of smiling softly at Estelle. The poor girl looked exhausted. She had fallen to her knees as well, and had a hand pressed delicately to her forehead. Her bright green eyes were shut tight. Yuri offered her a hand up, which she took with a pained smile.

She was interesting. They all were - Karol, Yuri, and Repede too. I didn't know what to make of them. Saying that they were strange would be understating things, but they had helped me save Halure's barrier, something I could have never done on my own. Estelle turned and saw me looking in her direction. The smile she gave me made me shake my head in amazement.

Everything would be alright.

* * *

"I guess this is it, then." Karol kicked at a rock.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Is?" Estelle asked for the tenth time. "We could use a hand making our way to Aspio."

I just shook my head. "There's nothing for me there. I don't see the point in going."

"Alright, suit yourself," Yuri called over his shoulder. He was anxious to get on the road. They had spent the night in town, but now that it was light he wanted to get to their next destination as quickly as possible. Estelle had said that the blastia thief that Yuri was tracking might be in the City of Scholars and that she wanted to catch up with Flynn as soon as possible. Apparently she didn't understand that he would be coming back with a mage any day now, but who was I to burst her bubble. She looked excited to be traveling again.

And honestly, I was glad to see them go. The town was fragile after the failure of the barrier, and the people didn't need the added stress of having a wanted man in their midst. That had been an interesting conversation last night.

Estelle and Karol waved frantically as they exited the barrier behind Repede, though Yuri lagged behind. After a moment more of hesitation, he waved me over.

"You don't owe us anything, but do me a favor and keep an eye out for Flynn, alright? Estelle is worried about him for some reason, and it would mean a lot." I blinked. Why was he asking this of me? Unless I read the situation wrong, we weren't exactly friends. "The red-eyes from last night should follow us out of town, but on the off chance that they don't…" His eyes grew dark as he trailed off.

"I'll give 'em hell." I finished for him. Protecting the town was sort of my job, and I did actually owe them for restoring the barrier. "Go. You have somewhere better to be than here."

He nodded, then left.

' _What strange people.'_

* * *

Apparently, everybody's favorite adjective is 'interesting.'

Is's little voice is an interesting character in its own right, and we'll get to know the who what where when and how of it a little but further on. For now, it acts as a second opinion on tough situations and as the voice of sass when Is doesn't feel like being vocal. Comic relief from (one of) the most serious characters!

We are moving right along! I think I may need to do some character studies to understand Yuri a little bit more. He's the only one that I'm having some trouble nailing down. In any case, I'll see you all soon with an update!

- _Han_


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it's been so long, college decided to be difficult for a few weeks.

Thanks to _Blue-Black Flames_ and _Sarah_ for the reviews!

* * *

Things were quiet in the hours after Yuri and Estelle left for Aspio, Karol trailing at their heels. The town had woken early to stitch itself back together. I smiled softly. Normal felt good.

I had been through the town several times since then, searching for any sign of the assassins that had been after the others. I knew every hiding place around the tree and in the hills, and came up empty every place I checked. Perhaps they were gone, following in the shadows as the group travelled to Aspio.

I would have to check again soon, just to be sure. The quiet was welcome in the meantime.

Delta was now asleep in sun on the roof of my little house. I had no idea how she kept getting up there, but she looked comfortable enough, tail twitching as she dreamed. With a small basket in hand, I moved behind the house and stepped into my garden.

If there was one thing my parents agreed on, it was their love for plants. They always took impeccable care of the herbs and flowers that grew on Halure's hillside. The passion was passed easily on to me. Flowers of every color dotted my garden, some bearing small fruits ready to be harvested, others needing more time to grow. The plants here were scientifically modified for home gardens to grow smaller than they would in the wild, allowing people like me to grow more varieties in less space. It was ingenious, really. My father loved it.

I set about harvesting some of the herbs, taking roots, leaves, and seeds that could be used in salves and traded for other materials. It was busy, mindless work that I had grown fond of over the years.

My basket filled rather quickly, a small rainbow of flowering plants overflowing its edges. Delta had woken up some minutes before, and was sniffing around at some of the more fragrant of the flowers I had planted near the house door. Bracing the basket against my hip, I pushed her away with my foot and opened the door.

"You're going to make yourself sick, Delta. Knock that off and come help me."

The basket ended up on my kitchen table. I didn't actually need her help, but it made her feel better about the spell I was going to cast.

I started separating the contents of my basket out based on a few different lists I had gotten from the town's general store and the local trademaster from Fortune's Market. The wooden surface was soon engulfed in the organized chaos that matched my lists. I tied off the specified quantities of each plant and set them in different baskets, depending on where they were going. I was left with a number of different fruits and a formula sheet.

' _You are making yourself more busy than usual, child.'_

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," I quipped as I opened the drawer next to the sink. I pulled out several empty, labeled vials and placed them on the sheet of paper. The formula was more difficult to nail down than the ones I used on a regular basis, and I needed some time to gather the aer necessary for it. There was usually enough moisture in the air to fulfil the water element requirement, but the fire would be tricky to gather.

' _Oh, I'm sure you do.'_

"I'm restocking. I do it all the time."

After a moment, I lit a candle. The sweet scent soon filled the room and I allowed my eyes to close briefly, reaching for the aer around me. My mother had shown me long ago how to feel the elements in my environment, and it was so natural that I could almost see the different kinds of aer in the atmosphere.

Wind and water were easy enough to spot, as they were among my go-to casting elements. Darkness and light were there as well, though the latter was dominating due to the time of day and the candle. Following the source of the light, I could clearly see the fire, little bits of a red orange among the myriad of other colors.

I opened my eyes and turned back to the table. There would be enough.

Delta sat dutifully on a chair as I moved the small vials in front of each collection of fruit on the table. Once everything was set, I took a last glance at the formula sheet before I went about casting.

I am a physical fighter by nature, and spell casting was never something that came easily to me. I found that closing my eyes usually helped. I pictured the formula I needed and physically reached for the fire and water around me.

Fitting the opposing elements into the intricate pattern was difficult, and took me longer than usual to accomplish. The fire and water fought each other, but eventually nestled in next to each other with an audible hiss. Once I was satisfied with the look of it, I released the steaming spell on the table.

A moment of cold and a flash of heat later, I opened my eyes to find the fruits gone and the vials full. I sighed, rather pleased with myself. I gathered the vials of oil and placed them in a box full of similar little jars. Distilling essential oils using blastia was efficient when done correctly, though it always left me as tired as I was proud.

Absently, I played with the cool, multicolored stone on the long chain around my neck, still glowing faintly with traces of aer.

A nudge at the back of my leg let me know that Delta was bored again and I rolled my eyes at her short attention span. After putting the box back, I grabbed the basket from the floor and motioned at the front door.

I slid my scabbard on across my chest as an afterthought and blew out the candle on the way out the door. Delta was off like a shot, nose to the ground in pursuit of who knows what. I let her go. She would come if she needed me.

The sun was on its way down from its highest point, its rays playing lightly on the bright petals on the tree. Shadows danced on the ground in front of me, providing some shelter from the light. It was unusually warm for it to still be early spring. Between the unexpected heat and the failure of the barrier, there were whispers going around town that something was affecting the weather somewhere else in the world, and that it was having major repercussions on the fragile ecosystem.

Only rumors, though. There was probably no substantial evidence to support them. I didn't pay them much mind.

Before I arrived at the little general store on the outskirts of the main plaza I was greeted by a familiar figure in imperial armor.

"Flynn," I nodded, shifting the weight of the basket to balance on my hip. He was back sooner than I anticipated. Aspio was nearby, but it was still a few hours walk from here.

Hands clasped behind his back, he nodded back with a smile. "Isadora. It's good to see you again." He motioned to something above my head. "I see that the tree is in bloom. I trust you had something to do with that?"

I started walking again, leaving room for the knight to fall into step at my side. "Not as much as you would think. Your friends, actually, Yuri and Estelle, are responsible. She healed the tree."

Flynn tripped over a rock at my words and I fought to keep from rolling my eyes. "They were here?"

Finally at the store, I handed off my basket to the trademaster before speaking over my shoulder. "Yes. Though they left this morning for Aspio to look for you."

There was silence while I accepted a small pouch of gald. Sparing a glance at his face, I saw his blue eyes clouded in thought. There was only one good road to Aspio, so two groups should have crossed paths. I found it curious that they hadn't. Just where was Karol leading them?

Delta appeared at Flynn's heels, startling him from his stupor as she brushed past him.

I scratched at her ears as Flynn turned toward the tree with a sigh. "Nothing to do about that, I suppose. We brought a mage back to repair the blastia, but that seems to be rather pointless now." He shook his head and chuckled.

"You made the trip rather quickly," I mused. The underlying question was clear, and Flynn nodded.

"We explained the situation to the head mages in the city and they were gracious enough to send one of their best researchers with us. They are worried about the safety of the town and told us to hurry back. He is inspecting the blastia as we speak."

I started for the path to the tree, not looking to see if Flynn was following. He continued talking as we went, though I tuned him out halfway through his tale of Aspio. He spoke as though I had never been there, and I wasn't interested in hearing about the City of Scholars.

' _He was trying to help and you are being quite rude.'_

I scoffed under my breath. The mages in Aspio were only interested in blastia. For Flynn to suggest that they were worried about Halure's safety was preposterous. If they truly cared about the people here, they would station some of them here so that when the barrier weakened we wouldn't be sitting defenseless until we sent for someone or it strengthened on its own.

I could hear the high pitched whine of someone's voice the closer we got to the base of the tree. Delta's ears pressed back flat against her head in annoyance as Flynn pushed ahead to meet his comrades.

Liam and Sodia were standing off to the side with their arms crossed and gazes locked on the petals that floated gently down from the branches. A small figure was on its knees in front of the massive trunk with the blastia's formula screen pulled up. They were scrolling quickly through different readings and squealing when everything appeared to be functioning at full capacity.

"I don't understand how this is possible!" he - she? - was screeching. "You said this blastia was in complete failure, it shouldn't be working like this!"

"Hey, we don't get it either," Liam sighed. "Just please, stop speaking. You're giving me a headache."

Sodia was pouting. "I don't know what happened, Witcher. We all saw the barrier go out."

"That was before a friend of mine visited and solved our problem." Flynn had his hand on Sodia's shoulder. "I'm sorry to have called you all the way out here on a false alarm, Witcher."

The small mage dismissed the screen with a wave of their stubby hand and huffed. "Whatever. The blastia is fine so I guess that's all that matters."

A stray petal found its way to Delta's nose where she had been quietly sniffing around at the edges of the little mage's robes. She sneezed.

It was almost comical how quickly Witcher's eyes bugged out when he – it was probably a he, though his high pitched squeals kept me second guessing myself - realized what was behind him. With a cry of " _M-MONSTER!"_ he flew through the air to land in Liam's surprised arms.

"Y-you have to protect me!" he stammered, scrambling to get a better hold of the poor knight. Delta cocked her head to the side in clear confusion. Flynn and Sodia chuckled softly to each other across the clearing.

Liam, on the other hand, was not amused. He blinked twice before training a blank stare on Delta. Slowly, it shifted to me. Another slow blink. Wordlessly, he pulled his arms out from under the body that had latched onto him, only to have the mage scurry up and cling to his neck.

"Would somebody please get this leech off of me."

I openly scoffed and took a decisive step toward the pair. Apparently that was enough to scare the small mage – honestly, how old was this kid? – into releasing the knight. He took up a new spot behind his legs, peering out at me like a child.

"Thanks Izzy," Liam said with a grin. He placed a hand on my arm. "You're the best."

I just stared at him. What was happening.

' _Physical contact will not kill you, child.'_

I eventually decided that the nickname and the touch weren't worth any significant reaction and settled for rolling my eyes to answer them both. "Whatever."

A breeze pinked up, and I realized that the sun was much lower on the horizon than I had thought. It had been hours since I had last scouted the area for the assassins after Yuri and Estelle, and if they had returned in that time I would benefit me to deal with them before it got dark. I motioned to Delta. We needed to go.

I tried to sneak away without four tagalongs, but that proved difficult with Liam still attached to my arm. As soon as I tried to shake him off, he asked where I was headed.

So, to my dismay, the small group followed me. Sodia and Witcher struck up an easy conversation with Flynn, leaving Liam bored enough to try and engage me. My cold responses to his generic questions did little to dissuade his attempts.

We were crossing the small bridge leading to the center of town when Liam threw his arm around my shoulders. Oblivious to the way I tensed up or just incredibly stupid, he laughed at me.

"You just need to lighten up, Izzy!" His face was suddenly very close to mine and I had to make a conscious effort to not punch it. "You're so serious all the time, you're gonna give yourself a heart attack. You need a massage, or maybe a vacation! Go have fun and relax. Get laid or something."

Excuse me, _what?_

The voice was voicing its amusement at the way my entire body seized up, but I was too busy trying to process what exactly he was suggesting to retaliate.

 _Nope_. That was enough social interaction for one day. I politely shoved his face the hell away from mine and let Delta be as she snarled at him. The others paused from across the bridge, trying to figure out what was happening.

My face was stony as I stalked away from them. I was running away and it was childish, but I didn't care. I didn't want to deal with that situation, so I wouldn't. I felt Delta following me, and I was glad to have a friend.

I thought back on Sodia and Witcher, who had not stopped complaining since I met them, and on Liam who had an incredible knack for getting under my skin. Yuri had asked me to keep an eye on Flynn, and by association, that included his friends. But if they were going to act like that they could just worry about themselves. I had more important things to care about.

Things like the assassins Yuri had left behind. I threw myself into the search for them, letting minutes melt into hours as the sunlight dripped away. Anything to forget what had just happened.

By the time evening had settled over Halure, I was content with the fact that the assassins had left the City of Blossoms alone. The question, however, became who they were and who exactly they were after.

Most of the upper echelon guilds had one or two trained assassins on hand, just in case things got dicey. But the sheer number of those after Yuri and Estelle were the signs of a darker force, and the black hoods and the red goggles they made me wonder if they were associated with the Red-Eyes.

But why would they target those two? Sure, Yuri had the traits of a top-notch troublemaker, but he didn't seem _dangerous_ by any stretch of the imagination. And Estelle was a healer. I don't think she had it in her to hurt somebody. Maybe they pissed off somebody important?

' _Or_ they _are important,_ ' the voice suggested.

I considered the possibility. "I suppose Estelle may be. Yuri mentioned to Karol that she was a noble. But even if it's some disagreement between rich folk, resorting to assassination seems like overkill."

' _Mmm, and Yuri does not fit the bill?'_

"Not unless he's wanted for murder."

I felt its laughter bounce around my head, but it didn't have anything more to say on the matter and stayed relatively quiet.

It had been a long, trying day, and I was very much looking forward to it being over. The sooner the knights left, the sooner my life would get back to normal. That isn't to say I wasn't grateful for their help. They were welcome when the monsters attacked and I couldn't see them or interact with them, but their presence had been made known to me on one too many occasions. And they were on a pilgrimage, wasn't it time for them to move on?

' _Shall you speak of the devil…'_

"And they shall appear," I groaned in response as I caught a flash of silver coming up the path. I often found myself at the base of Halure's great tree when I needed space to breathe and to think. I was sitting on the ground with my back against the trunk, sword at my side and Delta asleep across my legs.

I needed to find a new hiding spot.

"What do you want?"

Flynn frowned, staring at his feet at the iciness of my tone. A small – a _very_ small – part of me felt bad, but he was guilty by association and I was not planning on changing my mind. His soft voice came as a surprise. I figured he would be cross.

"May I sit?"

It took me a moment to bite back a sassy comment, but I eventually nodded to the ground next to me. He had a look on his face that betrayed his unease and slight bags under his eyes. There was a tired sigh and several minutes passed in a heavy silence before he shifted uncomfortably to face me.

"My comrades and I," he began, "we have decided to continue our pilgrimage. It is our goal to be in Capua Nor by morning."

I was only half listening as he explained their reasons for travelling through the night instead of waiting for the morning. It didn't make much sense for him to tell me his plans; I didn't particularly care what they did. That said, his next words startled me as they cut through the haze settling over my mind.

"You don't owe me anything, so I know that my asking this is out of line, but I have a feeling that Yuri and Lady Estillese will return to Halure. I was hoping you could look after them for me."

" _You don't owe us anything, but do me a favor and keep an eye out for Flynn, alright?"_

They were ridiculously similar, Flynn and Yuri. I let him know it. He only smiled in response, as if he already knew.

"Of course he asked you to do that. He can be difficult to handle, but his heart has always been in the right place." His eyes grew comically wide. "Don't tell him I said that."

I just closed my eyes and leaned back to rest my head on the tree. "You've been friends a long time then?"

"Since we were young."

We lapsed back into silence as I thought over his request.

"I won't do it."

I hadn't moved, but I could feel Flynn shifting in surprise. "But why not?"

"Don't take it personally, the only reason I didn't tell Yuri the same thing is because he wouldn't leave until I promised to look after you. Which you clearly do not need. I don't babysit."

' _Isadora,'_ the voice warned.

I opened my eyes. Flynn was staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

"What?" I asked, answering both. "Am I wrong?"

"No." His answer was hesitant, as if he had more to say but couldn't decide on the words. His hands balled into fists again and again as he struggled.

' _That was unnecessary.'_

I ignored it.

"Isadora," Flynn said slowly. "Please consider it. I know I am asking you to leave Halure and travel with them, but it wouldn't be for long and I am not asking you to babysit them. With these assassins after them I would feel more comfortable knowing that you are looking out for them. See, Lady Este-"

"I don't babysit," I interrupted, adamant.

He looked frustrated. "I understand. I'm sorry to have bothered you." He stood quickly and I watched him leave.

I was content to let him go, but a nudge in the chest from Delta made me pause. "What, you want to go babysit a perfectly capable swordsman and his noble, lady friend?"

All I received in response was a slow blink and a tilted head.

' _I believe that it would benefit you to travel with them.'_

I scoffed.

' _Child, you have been here too long. You used to love adventuring; staying in one place for so long made you anxious. What happened to that girl?'_

"Drop it," came my growled response. I shoved off the ground in pursuit of the blonde knight. "You know what happened to her, but I will go if it will shut you up."

A pleased silence sounded in my mind, and I knew that my choice had been made for me.

When I caught up to the knight, we were near the edge of the town plaza. A soft smile graced his lips when I told him I had changed my mind.

"Thank you, Isadora." In the distance, I could make out the now familiar figures of Sodia and Witcher dragging a reluctant Liam from the Inn. Flynn turned toward them and tossed a smile over his shoulder. "I'll make it up to you."

I fought to keep my eye roll in check, settling for flipping my braid nonchalantly over my shoulder. Delta wove her way between my legs. The familiar weight calmed me, and I was able to nod in farewell.

I had already made to head home when heavy footfalls sounded behind me. A hand touched my shoulder, and Flynn was once again in my personal space. Couldn't he just _leave?_

"Here," he spoke quickly, "for Yuri when you see him."

He was gone as quickly as he had appeared.

Turning the papers over in my hands, I skimmed the note and the picture. A closer look revealed it to be an incredibly poor rendition of Yuri, a monetary value above his face.

Was this … a wanted poster?

What the _hell_ did I just agree to?

* * *

Kind of a short, boring chapter, with so much _talking_ ugh, but we plant the seeds for a lot of Isadora's backstory here and leave room for a lot of interesting conversations later down the road.

Liam is modeled after a friend of mine named Zach who legitimately told me to go on vacation or to get laid because I was being so uptight. Not a good friend, but he's interesting, to say the least…

I love Is, she's emotionless yet sassy at the same time and so much fun to write because she is so far out of my usual character range and so unlike me. I totally wear my heart on my sleeve, but Is is so bottled up and so done with everybody's shit and it cracks me up. She has so much room to grow!

 _-Han_


	4. Chapter 4

College is absolutely kicking my butt and stealing all of my time, but I'm on spring break and actually have more than an hour to myself, so I finally had some time to work on this! I hope to finish drafting the next chapter before break ends so that I can edit and post in some time within the next week or so.

Thanks to _Blue-Black Flames_ and _SaRan1999_ for the reviews! You guys rock!

* * *

Another two days of peace saw Halure fully back on its feet. Property damages had been repaired, the injured healed, and the townspeople were at ease again. It was early in the afternoon, and the center of town was bustling with activity.

I sat on the railing of the small wooden bridge that connected the plaza to the rest of the town, content to watch as people went about their days. A handful of children sprinted by, their giggles floating back on a soft breeze as Delta chased them up the hill.

One of the things I loved about Halure was how simple things were. Everybody had a role, but there was a sense of humanity that kept the community so close. There was no pressure to be anybody great. All they asked was that you do your part to keep the town happy and safe. It was a welcome change in comparison to where I had been before this.

' _They've returned,_ ' the voice prodded gently against my mind.

I tore my gaze from where it had wandered toward the sky to see what it meant.

I sighed. "I was hoping they would go somewhere else." Flynn had told me they would be back, but when they didn't show up the next day, I had assumed that they were lost or had caught up to the knights again. Now I had to actually deal with them.

Briefly, I wondered if I could stay out of their sight if I stayed still.

Karol was standing next to the slight figure they had walked in to town with, a huge grin plastered across his face. Estelle and Yuri were gesturing at the tree as if trying to convince their new companion that it existed. The figure punched Karol to the ground and ran away, past me and up toward the tree.

Laughter bubbled its way past my lips, drawing the rest of the group's attention. Estelle waved and started skipping my way.

So much for being invisible.

' _Karma, dear.'_

"Hello, Is!" Estelle smiled in greeting. Karol was still on the ground, and I saw Yuri kick at him absently.

"Hi. How was Aspio?"

"Oh, it was wonderful! I've read about it, but before then I'd never been to such an amazing city. We met one of the scholars there, her name is Rita, and she came back with us."

I chuckled again. "She the one that punched Karol and ran off? I like her already."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" the boy whined. Yuri had finally dragged him up and over to where I was still sitting on the railing. I saw him peer nervously over the edge at the drop with a raised eyebrow, but a jab from the voice kept me from commenting.

Yuri cut in before my self control gave out, asking: "Anything interesting happen while we were gone?"

"Yes." I flicked a petal in to the abyss from where it had landed on my lap. Silence stretched between us and I stared blankly up at their expectant faces.

"Well what happened?" Karol finally exploded.

I crossed my arms, amusement hidden carefully behind rehearsed indifference. "I got a babysitting job."

Karol groaned and Estelle deflated.

"That sounds like fun," came Yuri's deadpan reply.

"I had hoped that Flynn had returned while we were away," Estelle started sadly. She clasped her hands by her chest and closed her eyes tightly. "I hope he's alright."

"No, he was here," I replied before she called on more clouds to rain on her parade. "He and two other knights left a few days ago to continue on their pilgrimage."

The girl squealed with excitement and clutched at Karol's arm before launching into a string of questions about him that I ignored. Eventually the mayor made his way over and asked to speak to Estelle in private, and she followed him with an easy smile.

I felt Yuri's sharp gaze and met it with ease. He tilted his head and placed a hand on his hip, the first of which I mirrored. He spoke to Karol without looking away, asking him to catch up to their mage.

"Can I help you?" I asked once he had gone.

He leaned back against the railing, moving his gaze toward the sky. "I don't know. Do you want to?"

I scoffed. "You're offering me the choice?"

"You always have a choice."

I thought for a moment before I responded.

"Then no. I don't want to help you, unless it's to help you leave this town." Yuri closed his eyes and started to speak. I cut him off before he got the chance. "But I told Flynn I would take care of you guys for a while, so I guess I've already made my choice."

Yuri's eyes narrowed as he put the pieces together. "We're your babysitting job?"

Hopping down from my perch, I nodded. "More so for Estelle than you, I should think." I let a sly grin slide on to my lips and continued innocently. "I don't think Flynn wants such a sweet girl to be travelling with a wanted man."

Yuri just sighed, "more like cursed than wanted," before I showed him the wanted poster that Flynn had left me and he amended his statement. "Ah, hell."

I stretched my arms overhead, letting my back arch until I heard several satisfying pops. I had been sitting on the railing for a while. Yuri was still reading his wanted poster when I turned my back and began wandering up the path to the tree.

I smirked at the indignant "Only 5,000 gald?"

' _I suppose that could explain the assassins that are hunting them,_ ' the voice hummed.

"I'm not so sure," I argued lightly. "They want him alive and returned to Zaphias. Killing him would defeat the purpose. Nobody would get paid."

I counted the resounding silence as a win in my column.

I could vaguely hear Rita and Karol from farther up the path. With a sigh, I pushed on. I would have to get used to them at some point.

They were arguing about blastia and their uses, and I hung back to let Yuri pass. I hadn't noticed when he had started following me, and I shifted uncomfortably as he intruded on the conversation between the two kids. Had he heard me talking to myself?

' _I beg your pardon, but I am not you,'_ came a scoff.

"Yeah? Then what the hell are you?" I shot back.

Nothing.

I closed my eyes tightly. "I thought so."

I wandered closer to the tree and paid a bit more attention to the others. I could hear Rita asking who I was, and I raised a hand in greeting when Karol introduced me.

I had just worked up the courage to move even closer and actually speak with my new companions when Delta burst forth from the path with a low whine. Repede was close on her heels. She rushed to my side and started pushing at my legs, all while maintaining that low growl.

"Delta?"

A quick glance revealed Repede doing a similar thing to his human, though Yuri was sitting, so it looked like the dog was just trying to knock him over. What would have both of them so worked up?

"It looks like they're trying to get your attention for something," Rita commented drily.

Karol tapped his chin in thought. "It's almost like they're working together, which is a huge difference than the last time they met."

' _This does not bode well.'_

I allowed myself to be led to the edge of the path before some of the pieces fell in to place and I took off after Delta sprinting for the center of town. I heard swearing, then the pounding of footsteps behind me before the pounding of my own heart drowned them out.

Delta knew better than to react that fiercely about trivial matters, so something bad must have happened to garner that sort of response. It must be that much worse if it got her to work with a dog whose throat she had tried to tear out just a few days before.

The only one not with us at the tree was Estelle.

Flynn had given me one job, and that was to keep his friends safe. And this was my town. I'd be damned if I let anything happen to Estelle while still on my own turf.

I followed Delta down a backwards path in to town, noticing out of the corner of my eye how the dog took Yuri and the others straight to the plaza. The familiar clinking of armor led me to believe that there were knights here, and the sound of a sword being unsheathed tied a knot in my stomach. Why wasn't Delta taking me there?

I almost tripped over her, not noticing when she stopped suddenly and crouched low to the ground. I followed her lead and made myself small before peering ahead. When I caught sight of the dark figures in front of us, I understood why Delta had come for me.

The assassins were back. And there were a bunch of them.

I touched the hilt of the sword at my shoulder. A shared look with Delta let me know that she was just as ready as I was. I took a steadying breath and pushed off hard, launching myself at the unsuspecting guildsmen.

My first strike caught one across the chest, and he went down in a flash of red. I heard shouting from my right, and a proud roar from my partner made me smirk. I had faith that she could handle the two over there, leaving me to focus on the three others, one of whom was cussing me out as he scrambled to put pressure on his wound. The two others drew matching sets of daggers and started circling me slowly.

I adopted a loose defensive stance, turning in time with them. "You shouldn't have come back here," I warned softly. The guy at my left scoffed.

"Bitch. You shouldn't have interfered."

"But I did." I smirked as he tensed. "Now what?

He shrieked and flew at me in a flurry of blades.

After the initial attack, I fell in to an easy pattern of deflection and dodging, letting his twisted knives slide effortlessly down the length of my sword. His friend wisely kept his distance as we fought. Probably trying to get a feel for my technique. I knew I fell in to predictable habits, and I decided to work quickly with the man at the end of my blade.

I countered a straight attack and disarmed him with a quick flick of my wrist, satisfied as I heard the dagger clatter uselessly to the ground. He shrugged the loss off and moved to attack with the weapon in his other hand, but I had the greater reach and slashed quickly at his legs, finally moving to the offensive.

I lost track of what my body was doing, calling on years of experience to guide me as I moved on auto-pilot. Footwork was smooth and sharp across the dusty ground, I prodded insistently at the openings in his guard, feeling smug when I could feel my opposition wearing down.

I had just scored a deep cut on his side when I heard a strangled yelp from behind me. I stepped in suddenly, feigning hard left before reversing my grip and smashing the pommel of my sword across the assassin's temple. I didn't watch as he crumpled to the ground, already turning to my partner.

Dark blood dripped steadily from several cuts on her shoulders, but the assassins she was up against looked far worse. One had a chunk of fleshing missing from his calf in the distinct crescent of a mouth, and the other had four parallel gouges spanning the length of his chest.

I was breathing quickly, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins was fire and I was itching to fight. Bouncing lightly on the balls of my feet, sword ready at my side, I eyed the four not-unconscious guildsmen as they took the time to reset.

"You all, go for the target," the only unscathed one rasped. "I'll take the bitch and the cat down."

I didn't have time to wonder which of my companions was their target before he was on me, blade slicing through my upper arm as I was late to counter. I hissed at the pain, but let it fuel my rage.

"Delta, go." Not that I wasn't sure that the others could take care of themselves, but I still didn't know what happened in the plaza. If they were fighting the Imperial Knights, they might not be prepared for the assassins heading their way.

The actual fight was a blur of clashing blades and sharp exhales as we fought for the advantage. Offensive strikes melted in to defensive maneuvers, and I had to admire the man's skill with his weapons. Knives were difficult to understand, and dual wielding them was even more difficult. My father had tried to teach me rapier and dagger techniques when I was little, but I always put the dagger down in favor of the rapier. Little wasn't my style, even then.

I bit back a pained noise when we traded identical blows. Wordlessly, we backed off and circled one another slowly. It was then that I noticed that he wasn't using artes. Utilizing artes was something that I typically forgot that I could do in battle, and I kicked myself for letting the fight drag on this long.

' _Might I suggest you make haste?_ ' quipped the voice as I pushed energy into the blade of my sword. _'You have better places to be.'_

"Shut up," was my growled response.

The assassin seemed to feel the change in atmosphere, and started toward me. Determined, I finished charging my attack and let it loose in an upward cut at his approaching form.

"Vibrance!"

Without time to guard himself, he faced the full force of the base arte. A blinding flash of color extended past my blade, the force of it traveled the short distance to his body, then continued on, pushing him several yards back. He crashed into the trunk of a tree, body crumpling with the impact. He didn't get up.

My chest was tight as I turned and ran to the plaza. What if I was too late? What if something happened?

That notion went out the window when I burst through a gap in the buildings to see Yuri kneeling down next to three downed knights.

"'With this sword I shall protect the people,' wasn't it?" I could hear him asking. The rest of the group was making their way for the town's entrance, except for Delta and Repede. The animals were a ways behind Yuri, growling menacingly at the three assassins to keep them at bay. They looked wary of Delta's sharp teeth, and I felt a surge of pride. She had fought well.

' _Isadora.'_

At the warning tone, I rushed over to where my dark companion stood, calling out to him as I went. He turned with raised eyebrows and a hand on his hip.

"Where have you been?"

"Around," I huffed, rubbing at my throbbing arm. The adrenaline was wearing off and I was starting to feel every cut and bruise from the earlier scuffle. "It's time to go."

"Don't tell me my babysitter needs a babysitter," he teased lightly before calling out to Repede. I followed his lead and called Delta back to my side as the knights engaged the guildsmen.

There was something oddly familiar about the small band of knights, and it pained me to recognize that the sinking feeling in my bones told me they wouldn't last long.

Yuri cut in to my thoughts. "I hope you have everything you need."

As we jogged out of town with the rest of the group, I was glad to have the familiar weight of my backpack. I had been prepared to leave at a moment's notice for the past few days, ever since Flynn and his comrades had left for Capua Nor.

I told him to stop nagging.

Delta and I made out way to the front of the group, leading the little band of misfits west toward Ehmead Hill and Capua Nor. The sun was steadily making its way toward the horizon, and the air had grown cold to match the gravity of the situation.

I shivered, though from the weather or in apprehension, I couldn't tell.

* * *

When Halure was nothing but a spec behind us, I slowed my jog to a leisurely stroll and allowed the others to catch up. Delta kept going, scouting ahead with her nose to the ground.

"I can't believe that you were researching blastia at such a young age, Rita," Estelle was saying as I tuned in to the conversation the others were engaged in.

The mage scoffed, but her posture straightened a bit showing her pleasure at the praise.

"Hey, Is, how old are you?" Karol appeared at my side so suddenly that I had to fight to not elbow him in the face on accident. He blinked up at me with expectant brown eyes. I crossed my arms and breathed heavily through my nose.

"I don't see why it matters."

"Oh come on," he pouted. "It's just a number."

"Exactly. So it doesn't matter, now does it?"

"I bet she's just self-conscious because she's so old." Was that a challenge in Yuri's voice?

I just raised an eyebrow and kept walking. We were coming up on Ehmead Hill, and Delta came trotting back to my side. After growling shortly at Repede, she nuzzled the back of my knee before whining up at me.

Estelle's soft voice pulled at my attention before I could wonder what was up with my partner. "Oh, I don't think that's it."

"Really?"

She nodded. "I'm sure there's some other reason she doesn't want to tell us!"

"Maybe she wants us to guess." Yuri was either gifted in keeping a straight face through sarcastic remarks or was actually being serious. Either way, I was two seconds away from walking over and smacking the innocent look from his face. A jab from the voice was the only thing keeping me in line.

"Nineteen." All I could do was sigh at everybody's blank looks. "I don't care if you know or not, but we have more important things to worry about."

Up ahead was the worn path that wound its way through the forest and up the hill, but the typical peace and quiet that enveloped the hill was marred by frantic shouts and the cacophony of clinking armor. The barrier blastia that usually protected the path lay broken by the entrance, and a dozen people were milling about in confusion.

I scratched at Delta's ears instead of listening to Rita and Karol bickering about whatever they were bickering about, and yawned into my hand as she took off toward the shattered piece of technology. Karol ran in the opposite direction, promising to come back with more information on the situation.

"And they're gone. I'm not going to find them if they get lost," I heard Yuri sigh. He turned to me with an easy smirk. "That'll be your job."

I didn't dignify the comment with anything more than an eye roll.

As Rita bossed her way through the wall of people surrounding the downed blastia, I took a moment to look at my arm. It had long since grown numb, shrouded by torn fabric and torn skin.

I shrugged my bag off and reached inside. The enchantment on my pack allowed me to reach all the way up to my shoulder as I rummaged around for my little box of medicines. Years of traveling without access to healing artes taught me to fend for myself in terms of healing, and I met a man who introduced me to the healing properties of oils some time ago. There was something about how the natural constituents that reacted with innate magical abilities within a person's body that expedited the healing process without the use of magic.

Box in hand, I pulled out a small vial with a blend specifically for healing cuts and bruises. I applied a few drops to the gash on my arm and massaged it into the tender skin with a hiss. As I did, I could feel the skin slowly knitting itself back together. A glance down told me that the wound was closed, leaving behind a thin pink line that would fade in a few days.

With a satisfied nod, I returned the box to my backpack and slung it back over my shoulder. Absently, I fingered the torn fabric on the sleeve of my shirt. I had a small sewing kit somewhere, but a shout drew my attention back to the present. I would have to worry about that later.

"What should we do now?" Estelle looked worried, though I couldn't fathom why. Rita was talking animatedly to the people around the blastia, and a knight - when had they gotten here? – had a solid grip on her upper arm.

Karol took a few steps in their direction and shouted "FIRE! Hey, there's a fire over here!"

His attempt to distract the crowd was effective, but not in the way he probably anticipated. Two of the men started chasing the boy down the path, berating him for crying wolf. I just watched as he frantically tried to stay out of their grasp.

' _This may complicate things,_ ' came a soft chuckle.

"You're only laughing because you don't have to do anything about it," I growled under my breath, trying to find a way out of the situation. At this point I just wanted to get over the hill and to Capua Nor in one piece.

' _Come now, Isadora. You aren't going to do anything either.'_

I bit back a smart response. It wasn't exactly wrong.

One of the knights chasing Karol stopped in front of Yuri and stared at him. I saw Yuri's hand tighten around the scabbard of his sword. I stepped in a put a hand on Estelle's arm, pulling her a bit closer to the tree line behind us.

"I know you," he said slowly. "I've seen you on a poster somewhere. You're – hey! Get back here!" Instead of attacking the knight, Yuri had run off at a sprint for Rita. I didn't look to see what he would do, but I took that as our cue to leave.

I pushed Estelle toward the cover of the forest as the knight in front of us called out for reinforcements. Delta appeared from the shadows and led us further and further off the beaten path until we were deep between the trees. I heard Yuri and Rita following, and we were soon back together.

Once everybody had caught their breaths, Yuri was the first to speak. "Well, it looks like we lost 'em."

"COME OUT, YURI LOWELL!"

"Looks like somebody spoke too soon," I scoffed, playing with the end of my braid. After all of the running, it was coming loose. I would have to redo it soon.

Rita looked about ready to punch someone. "What is it with you and your damned fan club? Just who are you guys?"

When she turned to me, I just shrugged. I didn't exactly know, and it wasn't for me to say.

"You're one to talk. What was that stunt you pulled back there?" Yuri was being sassy and I had to fight not to laugh as Rita defended herself.

"There was something strange about the formula of that blastia. I couldn't just do nothing."

I could almost _hear_ Yuri rolling his eyes. "Whatever's going on, just keep us out of it."

"It doesn't concern you anyway." The tone of her voice was almost sad, though it was difficult to place why. Delta sneezed.

Wordlessly, I started down the path that we had found, travelling away from the knights that wouldn't leave Yuri alone. I could hear them calling out his name as they searched, along with Estelle's full name. I started to wonder the same things as Rita: who were they, really?

A name like Estillese isn't exactly common, and there was something in the back of my mind that stirred slightly when I heard it. I whispered to the voice, wondering if it could remember what I could not.

It didn't respond.

I tried not to linger on the unusual silence. Karol tumbled out of the bushes at some point and started following at my heels, going on and on about a person riding a dragon that had apparently destroyed the blastia. I didn't pay him much mind either. He eventually stopped bothering me in favor of striking up conversation with the others.

The path we were on was a beast trail, one that humans typically avoided even when the barrier was up. Delta and I ended up ahead of the rest of the group, scouting for any monsters and trying to figure out just where in the forest we were.

I was pushing the corpse of some large insect off of the blade of my sword and looking at some scratches on the bark of a nearby tree when the others caught up.

"Come on, Is, leave some fun for the rest of us," Yuri whined.

I just stared back at him. If he wanted to fight so badly, he could have joined me at any time. I told him as much and he shrugged, a smirk brightening his usually dark features.

"So where exactly are we?"

"What, you mean the great Captain Karol doesn't know?"

The kid almost fell over before adopting a cocky posture and rubbing at his nose. "O-of course I know where we are. Is is just leading us right now so I wanted to check if she knew what she was doing."

I sheathed my sword over my shoulder and rubbed at my eyes, annoyed. "I know where I'm going." I nodded to the right. "There's a little clearing off that way a bit, and then it's not much farther to the cliff. After that, it's a relatively straight shot down the rest of the hill and on to Capua Nor."

Karol nodded several times as though he knew all along. Delta and I shared a disbelieving look before she disappeared into the underbrush. Before following the path to the right, I stole a glance back at the others.

"I really wouldn't play around with that, Estelle," I commented lazily as she peered at a small cluster of flowers. It was amusing to see her jump back and hide her hands behind her back as she tried to feign innocence. Karol, on the other hand, got even closer.

"Oh, don't listen to her, Estillese," Rita scoffed. "It's just a billybally leaf, they won't hurt you. Though, I didn't know that they grew up here in the mountains." A wicked look crossed her features, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from outwardly smiling. I knew exactly where she was taking this.

Estelle didn't. Her expression grew confused and she tilted her head to the side. "But Is, why would you…" She trailed off, more interested in watching Rita creep up behind Karol. With a straight face, she shoved him into the flower.

Pollen flooded out, and I was quick to dance out of the way. Karol wasn't as quick and ended up with lungs full of the yellow dust. I chuckled as Estelle attempted to heal the resulting paralysis with an arte, to no avail.

"Ah hell, Rita."

The young mage just shrugged. "It'll wear off eventually. Just drag him along." Hands on her hips, she looked up at me expectantly. "Which way did you say we were going, Isadora?"

Rita was the only one who referred to me by my given name, and I was having mixed feelings about it. I didn't give the others permission to call me Is, and she had been the only one to ask for my real name. Is was easier, clearly, but it also stirred up memories that I had spent time burying.

I tried not to think on it as I led on. Karol woke up at some point and started bickering with Rita, and Yuri ended up walking next to me to escape the argument. We moved in a comfortable silence, striking down any monsters that decided to attack so that the others wouldn't have to worry.

There came a point where Delta darted out of the shadows, and I had to catch Yuri's blade on my own so that he wouldn't harm her. He smiled sheepishly and shrugged an apology. I just shook my head and told my partner to be more careful. She nipped at my leg before falling in to pace at my left side.

"Red-eyes, knights… Why can't I have a nice, relaxing trip for a change?"

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He had said it under his breath, and I wasn't sure if he wanted a response. After a moment's hesitation, I sighed.

"I guess it might have something to do with the fact that you're a wanted man."

"Hmph. You haven't asked about that yet. Aren't you curious?"

I bit my lip. "I suppose, but it really isn't my business. If it's something I need to know about, I feel like you're honest enough to share. Until then I don't particularly care."

"You would trust a wanted man." Put that eyebrow down, Yuri Lowell.

"I trust myself enough to make sound decisions," I said slowly, "and I have decided to not press this issue. Can we leave it at that?"

We had reached the clearing. Yuri stopped walking, his face was almost unreadable as he stared at me. I paused and met his eyes, at ease as they scanned mine carefully. Eventually they drifted closed and he moved to speak, but the harsh shaking of the ground cut him off and they snapped back open.

Karol was in the middle of a freak out with Estelle trying to calm him when Delta and Repede located the source of the trembling. They lowered themselves to the ground and started growling at the dark mass that was approaching on an overhang above us. I recognized it almost immediately.

"Gattuso," I whispered. This would be interesting if it chose to attack us.

"Hey, that's one of the monsters that attacked Halure!"

' _Astute observation, child._ '

As Karol and Yuri went back and forth with Rita on the pros and cons of attacking the monster, I saw movement behind the beast. Three cubs emerged from the darkness and bared yellow teeth. The mother – I assumed it was the mother. Sires typically didn't stick around to raise the cubs – crouched down and I tensed.

"Hey, shut up and get ready," I shouted, drawing my sword. "Here they come."

Yuri stood ready at my side, flicking his sheath away with an excited grin. I felt the aer shift and charge as Rita got ready to cast, and Karol was still freaking out when the Gattuso roared its challenge, spiked tail rattling. Delta rose up and accepted in turn, and the fight was on.

Yuri cut the first of the cubs down in a flash of steel and a vicious strike arte before he moved to take on the mother. Delta and Repede tag teamed another of the cubs while I faced off against the third. Karol, though reluctantly, put on his big boy pants and went to assist Yuri.

A few well timed artes and some quick footwork later, the cub lay wounded at my feet. I was breathing hard, my sword poised ready to finish it off when it looked sadly up in to my eyes. I groaned. Why did it have to look so sad?

' _It isn't going to get up any time soon,'_ allowed the voice. ' _But perhaps you could keep it that way?'_

I snapped my fingers and began looking around the edge of the clearing. "You're a genius."

A few moments later I had found the flower I was looking for. Pinching its petals together tightly, I placed the billybally leaf in front of the cub's face before letting the pollen spill out. The pup immediately fell still, and I nodded to myself.

' _That is not what I had in mind.'_

"Tough luck."

I took a moment to survey the rest of the battlefield. There was a good chance that the cub Yuri had taken down was dead. It hadn't moved from where it had landed after his first attack, and there was an alarmingly large pool of red under its body. Man, just how strong is he? I was familiar with the beasts, and to take one down in a single shot was unheard of.

Then again, as I watched him take on the mother, it didn't look to be out of the question. Yuri fought like an animal, both in the way he moved and in his strength. He was careful and precise in his movements, but moved with such a fluid grace that he seemed to dance. And he did it all with a cocky smirk on his face.

I scoffed. Arrogant bastard was actually enjoying himself.

Repede had joined his partner and was slashing at the Gattuso's hind legs while Yuri had it distracted up front. Delta was standing watch over the cub she had helped take down, a sign that it was still alive. I was glad to see that she wasn't completely ruthless.

A shout caught my attention and – _shit_ , that was bad. I took off running toward the edge of the clearing where Estelle and Rita had been hanging back, casting. Both girls were in the middle of different spells, and both had their eyes shut in concentration. They didn't see that the monster had managed to shake Yuri and Repede off – wait where the hell was Karol? – and was barreling toward them in a blind rage.

I channeled aer into the blade of my sword, catching a flash as my bodhi blastia responded and slashed upward, releasing the energy with a shout. "Vibrance!"

The arte caught the Gattuso in the side, and while it didn't do much damage, it did give its anger a new focus. Namely, me. Peachy.

I bounced lightly on the balls of my feet as the beast shook itself off, taking its time before training its beady eyes on me. I smirked.

A shout of _"FIREBALL!"_ from behind me was the only warning I got before the world erupted in flames. Apparently Rita had finished her spell. The monster roared in pain as its fur caught fire, and it ran off into the woods in an attempt to put itself out.

' _I suppose that was effective.'_

I sheathed my sword with a sigh. "I could have handled that, you know."

Rita walked by with her hands on her hips and a self-satisfied smile on her lips. "I know."

"What the heck, that thing didn't even put up a fight!" Karol complained as we rejoined Yuri and Estelle.

"How would you know, you weren't even here," I scoffed under my breath. Rita must have heard me, and we shared a secret grin.

"Let's just hope there aren't any more of those around. Is," Yuri nodded at me, "you ready to go?"

"Always."

Delta led the way out of the clearing and back into the forest with a yawn. The two cubs that survived had disappeared, though I had a feeling that Delta let them go. It made me feel a bit better about the fight to see that the family had stayed relatively intact.

The sky had been darkening steadily over the course of our trek over Ehmead Hill, and was setting in earnest by the time we reached the edge of the small forest. I had every intention of continuing down the backside of the hill, but I stopped short when I saw the ocean.

It wasn't a cloudless night, and that almost made the scene more breathtaking. Warm colors painted soft shapes beautiful shades of pink and purple and orange, and the reflection shimmered off the water only added to the moment.

I could hear the others talking softly behind me, but I didn't pay them much mind. Instead I sat on the edge, letting my feet hang over the open water so far below. Delta curled up next to me, head in my lap and I played with the fur on the back of her neck as we watched the colors swirl and shift as the sun sank closer and closer to the horizon line.

The sunset over the water made my heart tighten more than I thought it would, and suddenly I was five years old again, sitting on my father's shoulders looking out at this same picture. My mother said something funny and my entire body vibrated as my father laughed. We were happy.

"Let's camp here for the night," I suggested once I had blinked the memory away. The fight had taken time, and there was no way we could get to Capua Nor before full dark set in. A light breeze picked up, pushing a few stray strands of my hair into my eyes. In a rare mood, I smiled softly up at the others as I tucked them back behind my ear.

"Why here? There are monsters everywhere!"

"Karol, we're outside the barriers. There are going to be monsters everywhere no matter where we go."

"She's right, Captain." I was almost surprised that Yuri agreed with me. "This place is as good as any."

"Oh."

* * *

This chapter is _so_ much longer than I thought it would be. I usually shoot for 4,000 words, but it looks like we got up around 6! Woohoo! I guess it makes up for the fact that it's been so long?

Mmm, I love playing around with essential oils in this world, they're so much fun! And yes, Is's bag is charmed like Hermione's from Harry Potter to be like 50 times as big on the inside as it is on the outside. I feel like that would only make sense from a travelling standpoint. That way her bag is small and out of the way while fighting, but is big enough to hold important things!

Next time, We'll get down to some shenanigans in Capua Nor! See you all then!

 _-Han_


	5. Chapter 5

I definitely could have had this posted a week or two ago but I'm dumb. I cut this in half so I could get it up before you all die from waiting. That paired with slipping back into depression means it's been a lot longer than I would have liked. My mental health is not exactly good right now guys. I'm sorry.

I won't make a promise about the next update, but I finish school in a month so hopefully I can grind out chapter 6 before then.

But hey, here we are! We made it!

* * *

I've been a lot of places throughout my travels, but harbor towns were always of my favorites. They were lively and bright, and though I wasn't personally fond of the fast-paced lifestyle, people watching was a great way to pass the time. People of every flavor could be found at the ports, coming in from far off lands or heading out again. Trying to figure out where each person hailed from was a game my father and I used to play together.

This time of year was typically a drier season, so the atmosphere surrounding Capua Nor would be full of joy and excitement. Merchants would be arriving with new goods from Tolbyccia, and the ports would be full of interesting people from all around the world. Everything would be so alive. Maybe I would stick around after I handed the rest of the group off to Flynn.

It was safe to say that I was pissed off when I saw how dead everything looked.

The first thing I noticed was that it was raining. Which wasn't uncommon, per se, since weather was a real thing, but it was pouring and something about it didn't feel normal. It hadn't been raining on the uneventful walk over, and there had been nothing on the horizon to suggest that it would be raining in the city. Had I not known that it was midday I would assume that it was much later at night given how dark it was.

Even in the rain, there should have been people. It would be suicide to go out on the water, so the emptiness at the port wasn't surprising, but the lack of townspeople out and about turned Capua Nor into a ghost town. It was unnerving.

I shifted uncomfortably in my cloak as I surveyed the street. There was an inn on the corner of the plaza that we were heading towards, and the docks were farther to the north. The magistrate's mansion was off to the left, and shadows were playing off of it created an ominous ambiance. Delta sneezed and I reached down to pat her head and calm us both.

Karol was leading everybody to the inn, though it was Estelle's soft touch at my elbow that spurred me forward. It was difficult to shake the feeling that something was off.

The closer we got to the entrance of the inn, the worse the foreboding sense got. A young couple was on their knees in front of a pair of men with wicked smiles. One carried a curved sword and was toying absently with the woman's hair, scaring her into stillness. The other was more bookish and was pushing his glasses farther up his nose as he read from a thick book in his hands.

"It is as we told you: bring back the horn of the Rhybgaro and you will never have to pay taxes again. Until then, I'm afraid we haven't much of a choice."

He sounded entirely too happy about

"No, please! Give me back my son!"

I had to look away as the father begged. The rain continued to pour, and the two men walked away, laughing.

"Savages," Rita hissed.

"So that's the sort of scum you were talking about, Karol?"

The boy nodded at Yuri's question. "The empire's influence is really strong here, and it's gotten even worse since the new magistrate got here. Apparently he's some imperial big shot who does whatever he wants."

"So there's nobody to complain to when his henchmen act like that." Rita was seething.

Yuri huffed, his expression dark as he gazed upon the couple once more. Estelle was ultimately unconvinced that an agent of the empire could be so cruel, but she was just a noble. It seemed that Yuri had a bit more of an honest experience with the oppression we were witnessing.

The couple, now on their feet, was arguing loud enough to be heard over the roar of the rain.

"Teagle, you can't go. You almost died the last time, and I can't bear losing you both," the woman was crying.

Her husband took her hands in his and shook his head. "This is our son, Kellas. This is Pauly. I will do anything to see him home safe."

He dropped her hands and turned to walk away.

And tripped quite elegantly over Yuri's outstretched foot.

He landed in a heap on the ground and I had to fight not to laugh. A quick glare from the swordsman and a few cross words from the voice helped me stay in line.

Yuri!" Estelle looked appalled at his choice of action and knelt quickly at Teagle's side. "My apologies. Please, let me take care of that for you."

The formula for a healing arte blossomed to life despite the protests of the man and his wife, and was completed a moment later.

"We can't afford this treatment," Kellas murmured to the ground. "But thank you. Thank you very much."

"It was my pleasure," Estelle beamed. "If I may ask, how did you receive the rest of those injuries?" She gestured absently to the bandages that were haphazardly wrapped around the man's body.

My mind wandered as they discussed the magistrate's hunt for the Rhybgaro and their reasons for participating despite their distinct lack of knowledge regarding the beast. Or of fighting in general. The magistrate's people had kidnapped their son Pauly when Kellas and Teagle had been unable to pay the steep taxes imposed upon them under Magistrate Ragou's rule.

It was a sad story, but I couldn't help them. Karol had been right. The influence of the empire was too strong here and what could I possibly do to fix that? I could feel my throat tighten, as well as my fists. I had no power, no influence. Unless I stormed the manor and killed the man, I was just as helpless as the broken couple in front of me.

Lightening flashed and thunder shook the world.

When my attention found its way back to the group, Yuri had disappeared, which surprised me. He didn't seem the type to just wander off. Delta huffed, water droplets flying as she tossed her head. I glanced in the direction she was looking to see Repede sitting patiently by an alley. Over the sound of the rain, I could barely make out the hiss of steel on steel and connected the dots.

He would be fine.

"I'd hate to be the voice of reason," I drawled, turning back to the others. Teagle and Kellas had long since disappeared and I was soaked. "But I hate being wet more. Inn?"

That was enough to get everyone moving, and though there was no need to spend the night, we crowded into the lobby of the little inn. I had just removed my soaking cloak and leaned back against the wall when a familiar voice made me want to bang my head against it instead.

"Hi Liam!" greeted Karol

"Hey, little man! What brings you all the way out to Capua Nor?"

I tuned them out as they chatted, and followed mindlessly as we followed him to a room that they had rented out. Sodia was inside, sitting at the table and staring intently at a sea of documents. Witcher was beside her, shuffling a few pages and pointing at others. Neither so much as glanced up when we clambered in.

I hid in the corner of the room, content to fade into the background as the others settled in. Delta came by and rested her chin on my knee. Her eyes drifted closed and her breathing evened out within moments. I envied her ability to fall asleep anywhere.

I played with the scales that ran down the length of her spine, and she shivered, then nuzzled farther into my leg. A smile pulled at the corner of my lips and I let my head fall back to rest against the wall.

Either I had dozed off or time passed really quickly, but Flynn threw the door open and stalked in a while later. Yuri followed a bit more calmly, a bored look on his face as his friend steamed. Liam and Sodia immediately came to attention, and the rest of the room perked up at their arrival.

And then everybody was talking at once.

I took a breath to calm myself, then pushed off the ground until I was standing.

"If that is all," I said mostly to myself, "I'll be on my way. Come on Delta." Hopefully nobody had heard me and I could sneak out undetected.

Karol and Estelle both shot confused looks my way. Apparently I hadn't been quiet enough.

"What do you mean, Isa?"

"But we just got here!"

I blinked back at them. "Wait, did you think I was staying with you guys? Flynn just wanted me to make sure you got back to him in one piece." I gestured at the knight in question where he was still arguing with Yuri across the room. "Well he's right there, and you all appear to be in one piece. So why should I stay?"

"But, but I-"

"No, Karol," I sighed, trying to keep myself from sounding annoyed. "There's nothing for me here." Not anymore. "I have to go home. You'll be fine without me."

I turned, leaving the shaking boy in the care of Estelle. The look in her eye told me she understood, no matter how much sorrow it was hidden behind. She understood responsibility.

Liam, damn him, was standing in front of the door with his arms crossed and a dumb grin on his face. "I don't know, Izzy, I think you should stick around. Might be worth your while."

The only thing that would make any of this worth my while is if I could smack that smirk off of his face.

' _Patience,'_ came a warning.

Instead of starting a fight I chose the high road and ended up sulking, stroking at Delta's neck and staring out the window at the rain. Conversation bubbled up around me and I listened absently – I was far more interested in the heavy sounds of the drops against the glass.

It had never rained this hard in Halure, and a part of me was thankful for it. Rain was miserable by itself, but Halure existed in a glass bubble. I let my eyes drift closed with a sigh. One heavy rain could wash everything away, could shatter the delicate balance and leave the town in ruin.

My eyes snapped open.

"Wait, did you just say that a blastia has been messing with the weather?"

Liam looked confused, but nodded at my outburst. "Weren't you paying attention? We just went over that."

"Okay, whatever," I dismissed before turning to Flynn. "That would mess with the weather on the rest of the continent, wouldn't it?"

Rita answered for him that it might. "But I don't see what that has to do with anything right now."

"This is about the barrier in Halure, isn't it." Yuri caught on quick.

"Now that I think about it, there were rumors among the town's herbalists about something that was wreaking havoc on the ecosystem," Witcher mused. "If this blastia is causing it to rain all the time in Capua Nor…"

"Then it might have screwed up the ecosystem enough to weaken the tree and cause the barrier to fail in Halure." My anger was almost tangible in the air. This magistrate was already causing misery for the people in his city for the sake of money, but his actions almost killed people in my town.

I didn't realize that I was shaking until Yuri placed a calm hand on my shoulder. I hadn't even noticed him cross the room. I dipped out from under his touch and crossed my arms as I moved toward the door to fume in peace. I was going to have a few words with Magistrate Ragou. It was one thing to be a prick for money, but he couldn't just do as he pleased anymore. Not when lives were hanging in the balance.

I could hear Yuri and Flynn talking with Sodia over the logistics of an official search and seizure, but I was too busy plotting murder to listen. The thought of storming the manor was becoming more and more enticing. Delta and I silently slipped out the door.

To say that I actually stormed the manor would be ridiculous. I have a strong enough sense of self-preservation to recognized when I'm outmatched. I'm not _that_ impulsive.

I snuck around the back.

' _Still impulsive,_ ' the voice hissed. I ignored it.

The manor was beautiful on the outside. Big, sprawling lawn with bright green grass and beautiful flowers dotting the ground near the edge of the building. Pretty trees, easily climbable and conveniently placed by the high walls meant to keep intruders out. An equally convenient lift leading inside that made sneaking in seem almost too easy.

Inside the manor was almost as nice as the outside. Except that it wasn't.

Where outside had been miserable due to the weather alone, that sense of misery was amplified even once I was sheltered from the storm. There was something sinister lingering on the walls, something dark almost tangible in the atmosphere clashing harshly with the brightly lit corridor.

Delta shivered, and I echoed the sentiment.

Something wasn't right here.

* * *

The rain hadn't let up any in the hour or so that I had been scouting out the manor, and I flicked the hood of my cloak up with a sigh. Delta was dragging her feet as we made our way back to the inn. I couldn't be too upset with her, though. It _was_ miserable.

At this point, I just wanted to change into drier clothes and sleep for a week.

But _of_ _course_ the world had other plans for me.

Of all the people to see, it was Liam standing under the awning of a closed shop. He was talking with his hands to a man in a purple coat who was watching him with an amused grin. I made eye contact with the man over the knight's shoulder. I almost tripped over Delta when he winked at me.

The echoes of laughter were still bouncing around my head when Liam turned around. His face split into a broad smile when he saw me and I tried not to groan. I was planning on ignoring him and making a beeline for the inn, but he was beckoning me over with such enthusiasm that I couldn't pretend to not see him.

I put my plans on hold and trudged over to him, hoping that he would be struck by lightening before I made it.

No such luck.

"Hey Is, what are you doing out in this rain?" He reached out to brush some of the water off my cloak. I had to fight not to glare.

"I could ask you the same question," I deflected.

He laughed and crossed his arms. "Yeah, it's pretty ugly out here. Flynn and Sodia are off talking to the magistrate right now. I stayed back to hold down the fort for when your friends get back."

' _I wasn't aware that they were leaving.'_

"We don't own them," I murmured back before raising my voice to address the curious looks coming from both men. "Where exactly did they go?"

"They went to kill the Rhybgaro. Ragou's been forcing townspeople to hunt the monster and bring back its horn. Says he'll pardon all their taxes if they can do it," he spat. "I say the real monster here is Ragou. Someone should hunt _him_ for a change. Knock him down a few pegs."

Now _there_ was an idea.

Liam shook his head and allowed a smile to slip back across his lips. "We'll figure it out though, don't worry your pretty little head." If he didn't remove his hand from my shoulder I was going to let Delta attack him. "Anyway, this is Raven."

The other man took my hand in his and kissed the knuckles lightly. "Always a pleasure ta meet a beautiful lady."

I pulled my hand out of his as soon as his grip slackened. I wasn't fond of being touched in general, but I _loathed_ strangers.

"Isadora," I said when he asked my name.

"Just Isadora?"

"Just Raven?" I countered.

He shrugged. "Fair enough."

"This is Isadora Harroway," Liam cut in. My eyes widened, then narrowed as I shot daggers at him. "Her father, Anton, was a General in the war 10 years ago. He's kind of a legend."

If Raven was surprised, he didn't show it. There was a calculating look in his dark eyes as he stroked his chin. "I'm familiar with tha name. Some legacy ya got there, kid."

I nodded, still glaring at Liam. He shifted uncomfortably under the intensity.

"Sorry Izzy. The mayor let us know back in Halure."

' _It was going to come out at some point, child.'_

"Whatever," I answered both. "It was nice to meet you, Raven. I'm going to leave now."

I stalked out into the rain toward the inn leaving both men smiling and waving, oblivious to my sour mood. Lightening split the sky and thunder roared overhead to match my mood. Delta whined at my side as the rain started falling even harder.

' _Isadora,'_ the voice warned.

Thunder cracked in time with my outburst. "What. Don't you dare lecture me about whatever the hell it is you want to lecture me about this time. I don't want to hear it."

' _Stop working yourself up, child._ ' It was trying to soothe me. That was new. _'The others do not know.'_

"Yet," I muttered. I turned away from the inn at the mention of the others. They were still out hunting the Rhybgaro, but I'm not sure they knew that they could harvest the horn without killing the poor beast. I could stop that.

' _There is a chance that they will not find out,'_ it tried to reason.

"Just drop it, okay? I have other things to worry about. Delta, we're looking for the Rhybgaro. Think you can find it for us?"

Nose to the ground, she took off for a patch of forest to the west of the city. I followed at a jog, focusing only on saving the monster. Rhybgaro were relatively harmless creatures, as was typical with the majority of the monsters across Terca Lumeries. They were actually more common over on the Tolbyccian continent than here on Ilyccia, making them even more valuable. The fact that Ragou would have people hunt one was vile.

My hesitance to kill anything alive was something I inherited from my father. When I was young, he taught me about the sanctity of life and about honor, and that there was no sense in killing the creatures that we shared the world with without reason. As a general, he was forced to make difficult decisions in regards to the lives of others, but he made it clear to me that he was doing so in order to protect what was precious to him.

" _And that's you, little rainbow."_

A sigh worked its way past my lips. The rain was still pouring down, and Delta was sniffing around at the ground around a fork in the path she had been leading us down. She looked back at me, yellow eyes tired and confused. The rain must be playing around with whatever scent she had been tracking.

I crouched down and placed a hand on her neck. We stayed that way for several long minutes, basking in the rain and each other's company. The woods around us were oddly quiet; the rain and the wind were white noise as we waited for something to happen. Most of the creatures on this continent didn't like the rain, and would be seeking shelter until the storm passed.

For now it was peaceful.

For the second time today, I was reminded that the world was out to spite me.

A shift in the balance of aer and the sound of distant shouts drew us to our feet, and we raced through the trees and against time to try and save the Rhybgaro. It didn't deserve to die because of one man's greed. It had as much of a right to live as I did.

I pushed myself to go faster when the woods grew silent once more.

Delta was a few paces ahead of me and skidded to a stop on the wet ground as the trees thinned. Up on the path that we had abandoned was the source of the disturbance. I watched breathlessly as Karol managed to knock the beautiful beast down with his – wait, what happened to his sword? – hammer.

My fingers played on the hilt of my sword, but they stilled when Yuri held up his hand and called out for the boy to stop. Delta huffed impatiently at my side, and I had to hold her back. I was curious as to how this would play out.

"Maybe we don't have to kill it. We can just cut off the horn and let it go."

"But, Yuri, we had to kill an Eggbear to remove its claw. How is this any different?" Estelle's confusion made everyone pause and stare at the injured Rhybgaro.

Delta decided then that she had waited long enough, and trotted toward the others. She hissed at Repede to announce her presence, and he growled back lowly. I followed more silently.

"Isa!"

"Nice of you to join us," scoffed Rita. "We've already handled this, no thanks to you."

I ignored them in favor of explaining what I knew of the situation. "Rhybgaro horn is a valuable material because of what it's made of. The scales on the outside are often shaved off and melted down for jewelry, and can fetch a lot of gald on the black market."

Karol nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, and they're becoming more and more rare, so they're worth more now than they used to be."

"Well that explains why Ragou wants the horn, but it doesn't help us any with how to remove it."

"You can just cut it off, Yuri," I responded. "It doesn't have to die, and the horn will grow back in time."

"But why did we have to kill the Eggbear to get its claw for the panacea bottle?" Estelle echoed her question from before.

Karol grew silent and looked to me with expectant eyes. I sighed. Of course he didn't know.

"Panacea bottles actually don't use the claw itself. Some monsters synthesize a rare protein in their extremities when they die, and there's a formula that most merchants can use to extract it. That's what goes into the bottle. The claw itself is useless."

"I guess that makes sense," said Karol slowly. "I thought you were just going soft on us again, Is, and didn't want us to kill it."

"So," Yuri cut in before I could start arguing with him in earnest, "we can head back now?" He held up the golden horn.

"Yes," Estelle giggled. "Now we can request an audience with the magistrate!"

Request? That sounded much more official than my original plan to break in.

' _Not to mention more legal.'_

Yuri had handed off the horn to Rita, who was examining it closely. He was now kneeling next to the fallen Rhybgaro, hand on its neck as he spoke calmly to Karol. An easy smile lit up his face despite the miserable weather.

When the beast finally stirred, he kept a hand on its side as it struggled its way to its feet before letting it run off. He glanced briefly in my direction and nodded once as he went to retrieve the scabbard of his sword.

Maybe he wasn't so bad.

' _Child, he is a criminal,_ ' chided the voice. _'I ask that you derail this train of thought.'_

"We don't know that," I argued lightly, following the others back down the path to Capua Nor. "All we know is that the Empire has something against him. Maybe he didn't do anything wrong."

' _The bounty on his head says otherwise.'_

I let a sharp breath out through my nose. "I'm just saying is that he didn't want to kill the Rhybgaro, which would have been decidedly easier." Up ahead, he was teasing Karol about running away from fights. "He has heart. Perhaps we misjudged."

The voice chuckled darkly. _'If having a heart was enough to clear a man of charges, the world would burn.'_

"How can it burn with all of this rain?"

' _Watch your tone with me, child.'_

"Or what?" I laughed shortly, catching myself before anyone noticed that I was talking to myself. Rita turned around and shouted for me to catch up or they would leave me behind. I rolled my eyes, but allowed myself to smile softly.

"So where were you, Isa? We couldn't find you when we left." Karol questioned when I joined them. His hair had deflated in the harsh rain, and he looked like a drowned cat. I amended that statement as I took in the appearances of the others. Everybody looked like drowned cats.

My own cat included.

I shrugged. "You must not have been looking hard enough."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter where she went," Rita scoffed. "We have the horn and now we can go check out that blastia."

The edge of town was coming up fast, and she lengthened her stride to lead the way. Delta bounded after her, chasing the ribbon tied to her arm. Estelle, now clutching the Rhybgaro's horn close to her chest, followed quickly.

On the bright side, the rain was letting up a bit. Now just a slight drizzle, the town seemed to liven up. A handful of people were scurrying about, and a few of the shops in the plaza were now open and inviting. A pair of familiar faces were making their way toward the us, their argument clear in their body language.

Teagle, moving away from his wife with a limp, had a sword in hand and was heading out of town.

Yuri's expression darkened a bit as we moved closer.

"Where are you going with such a dangerous weapon?"

Apparently the man didn't notice Yuri's own sword, as he put his head down and tightened his grip on the hilt when he answered.

"That doesn't concern you."

At some point Estelle had handed off the horn to Yuri, because it was now in his outstretched hand. "Well, now it doesn't concern you either."

Teagle's hands were trembling as he accepted the horn. He soon fell to his knees, tears in his eyes as he thanked him over and over again.

There goes the plan for an audience with the magistrate.

"You were planning on doing that from the beginning," Rita deduced as the parents walked away, hands on her hips.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I just thought of it right now." There was a twinkle in his eye that suggested otherwise.

Estelle just smiled knowingly and led a confused Karol toward the inn. "Let's go talk to Flynn and figure out what to do next."

We met the knights in the lobby, and they led us wordlessly to one of their rooms. Judging by the growing bags under Flynn's eyes and the way Sodia was holding herself, their meeting hadn't gone well.

Unsurprisingly, the magistrate had blown them off, with very little regard for the authority they held. The council and the Imperial Knights were two sides of the same coin, but with the rising tensions in the capital at Zaphias the council was slowly stretching the limits of what was acceptable. The fact that Ragou wouldn't let them step foot in his manor even with a legal document allowing the search did not bode well for the future.

"Pretty much the only way we can get in now is if there's some sort of emergency that we can offer help with," Liam was groaning. He was lounging on one of the beds, his armor scattered in pieces on the floor. "So we can kiss this investigation goodbye. It's going to rain in Capua Nor forever."

Sodia glared and smacked his foot.

Yuri and I made casual eye contact with one another from across the room. He raised both brows in question, to which I openly grinned. The clear display of excitement surprised him, and he nodded back once.

Seems like breaking into the manor was still the best option after all.

* * *

Lots of anger and lots of sighing in this chapter. Also lots of eye rolling, though that isn't necessarily new for some characters. Next time, we finish up Capua Nor (probably) and keep the ball rolling into some more exciting fight scenes that I won't be able to avoid writing by having Isa be conveniently somewhere else!

Also haha forget explaining politics through dialogue. I'm going to assume that Isa knows all of this either from her parents explaining things when she was younger or from Estelle and Karol explaining it off screen. That would be a lot of boring expository stuff that I don't particularly want to get in to.

Since the last chapter, I've gotten some speculation as to what exactly the voice is in Isadora's head, since it apparently isn't her conscience. If you have a thought or a guess, I'd love to hear it! I'd like to see how it comes across this early in the story.

Also hi, Isadora does actually have a last name and a family that actually exists outside of memories.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't want to talk about how quickly I finished this chapter. It's been a weird week.

Wow, you guys had so many great ideas about the voice! We're getting closer and closer to revealing more about what it truly is, and this chapter miiiight help out a bit with that. Or it might confuse you more. I don't know. We'll see.

Thanks to _CallmeCrazylol, SaRan1999, Blue-Black Flames_ , _Sarah,_ and _Christin_ for reviewing! You guys have no idea how much it means to hear from you.

A response to Sarah:

:) :)

A response to Christin:

Romance is definitely not the main point of this story. Honestly I'm not impressed with any pairings in this fandom period, so they were never in the picture when I was planning this story. Something can be there if you squint, but I'm not too sure that anything will be set in stone in the canon of Passing Silhouettes.

Last little bit in Capua Nor, then on to Torim! Probably. Man, we're just speeding on through things, aren't we?

* * *

It wasn't until the next morning that we decided to sneak into the manor. I thought that was dumb, given that we would draw more attention to ourselves during the day, but my suggestion to move under the cover of night was shot down on several fronts.

There were two lifts around the back of the manor, and I had snuck in using the one on the left the afternoon before. It was still in the upper levels of the building when we got there in the early hours of the morning, so we boarded the other. Of course that one did the opposite and took us down.

Down meant the basement. The basement that I hadn't had the time to scout out ahead of time. In my defense, when I was planning to storm the manor on my own, going into the basement hadn't ever been a plan. I wanted to be waiting in Ragou's bedroom with my sword drawn and threaten to castrate him if he didn't shut the blastia down.

That plan had also been shot down. I kept it in my pocket as our back up.

Now we were exploring, trying to find our way out, or at least back up to the ground level where I was more confident. I felt useless down here, especially since I could tell that the others knew I had been here yesterday. Nobody said anything, but I could feel the nervous glances in my direction every time we went to pick a route. They were waiting for me to take the lead and tell them where to go.

But I was just as clueless as the rest.

Yuri was the first to figure it out, and he casually took the lead with Repede and we started making our way through the maze of dark corridors. I hung back, Delta between my legs, as the others disappeared through an open door.

She looked up at me with expectant yellow eyes. I smirked, nodding in the opposite direction. I got an excited growl as a response.

Splitting up was probably a poor idea in hindsight, but I didn't particularly care. The others could take care of themselves and I wasn't really down with the whole teamwork thing yet. I just wanted to find Ragou, kill him, and shut that blastia down. Maybe I'd just destroy it so it couldn't be used again.

Besides, Delta and I were explorers at heart, and we hadn't been able to get into the basement before. They couldn't expect us to stay with them as they searched blindly for the exit. Who knows, maybe I would find a way out before they did.

I was getting less and less optimistic as the rooms started to blur together. No matter where I went, everything looked the same. The only thing that changed were the monsters we'd encounter.

The first few were easy to sneak past, but they must have alerted the others nearby because everything was ready to throw down by the time we found them. They were bloodthirsty and rabid, and as much as Delta and I hated it, we did what had to be done. I tried to kill them as quickly as possible. Now wasn't the time for hesitation.

I ghosted into another room and was surprised when I heard Karol and Estelle's voices carrying across the empty space. They were huddled around something the far corner and I watched, curious for a moment or two.

A small boy emerged from the darkness, tears streaking down his pudgy face. He was wailing, clinging to Karol's leg like a lifeline. Estelle was kneeling next to him, preparing a heling arte. The telltale ring of First Aide filled the room, followed by a flash of green light. The boy's cries lessened a fraction.

A concerned noise found its way past my lips at the scene. This boy had been taken from his parents because the man in charge was a greedy bastard with a God complex and a dungeon of horrors in his basement. I couldn't imagine what he was feeling.

Apparently I wasn't as quiet as I thought I was, as Yuri's head whipped around, sword drawn and ready. He relaxed a bit when our eyes met, but made no move to sheath his katana. His eyes warily scanned the rest of the room before raising an eyebrow at my own drawn blade.

I shook my head and flicked some of the blood off the steel. He eventually let me be when it was clear I was going to guard the entrance and let his focus drift back to the others.

It took another few minutes for Rita to notice me presence.

"And just where the hell were you?" She stalked toward me, stopping a few feet away, hands on her hips. She was not pleased with my disappearing act. "We really could have used your help, you know."

Yuri held up his hand to cut off my sarcastic response. "Easy there, killer. I'm sure she'll let us know the next time she decides to wander off, right Is?"

Somebody was being a bit passive aggressive, wasn't he? I just shrugged at him. I wasn't about to make a promise I knew I wouldn't keep.

Rita scoffed, crossed her arms, and scowled at the ground.

The look in Yuri's dark eyes told me that he wasn't happy with my flippant lack of response. Instead of pressing, however, he turned back to where Estelle was holding the crying child. Delta pressed up against my leg, fur around her neck betraying her agitation.

I crouched down to her level and scratched at her neck. When Delta was nervous, I was nervous. And I had seen enough of the bones scattered around the dungeon to be plenty nervous on my own. Just what was Ragou playing at?

The kid in Estelle's arms, Pauly, he'd insisted, had finally settled down a bit, though he maintained his death grip the fabric of her dress. She rocked him slowly, whispering soft words of encouragement into his hair.

I sighed. He shouldn't have had to go through that.

"Come on, we should get him out of here and then have a few words with the magistrate." Yuri had his no-nonsense voice on, and the rest of the group was quick to follow his lead.

I stood a bit more slowly, content to watch their backs as they navigated the labyrinth. Delta huffed in annoyance, too used to being in the lead to be comfortable following. I just rolled my eyes and plotted murder.

* * *

For all of the scouting I had done earlier, the basement, to put it simply, was a maze. There were random rooms and dead ends, and bloodthirsty monsters blocked the most promising of routes. Once we left the room Pauly had been hiding in, I had no idea where to go.

Not that I would admit that. It didn't even matter, I was still playing rear guard. Everyone could blame Yuri for leading us in circles for all I cared.

We wandered for what seemed like hours before we found the staircase leading back to the ground level. Karol sighed in relief. His feet had been dragging for a while and he ended up next to me. Talking to him was starting to get less awkward, and we alternated between comfortable silence and easy conversation.

And fighting. There was a lot of fighting. I allowed my mind to go blissfully black as I struck down beast after beast. Now that we had a child to protect, I could very well get everyone killed if I let my morals affect my actions. Not thinking altogether was easier.

Karol hid behind me most the time, adding to the proof I had that he was a coward. I kept all judgement to myself, however. Sure, he could take care of himself, but he _was_ still a kid.

Estelle shifted a dozing Pauly to her other hip as she drew up alongside Yuri and Rita. She smiled tiredly at them before trudging up the stairs after Repede.

It was another long trek down a musty hallway before it opened up into a barred room. I raised an eyebrow at that. We were essentially standing in a cage, which didn't make much sense. All that was behind us was the entrance to the basement…

On second thought, having a cage between that and the rest of the manor seemed like a smart idea.

' _I suppose it would be too much to ask for a lapse in judgement on the part of the Magistrate. We would be saved a lot of trouble if her were reduced to but a pile of bones at the hands of his beasts. Poetic justice, and all that.'_

I scoffed. We weren't that lucky.

"You've been quiet throughout this," I commented as the others went to inspect the bars keeping us back. I hadn't heard from the voice since the day before, which wasn't unusual, per se, just a bit unnerving.

' _What would you have me say?'_ I rolled my eyes. ' _I could narrate your little misadventures if you wish.'_

"Oh please, no."

"You're welcome to go back the way we came."

' _Yuri said happily in response to the young Captain Karol's asinine comment, sarcasm dripping from his words like water from a leaky faucet.'_

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I said no. Wow, you would be an awful writer. Just do us both a favor and keep that to yourself."

A contented hum filled my head, followed by a comfortable silence.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" came a new, nasally voice. I glanced at the other side of the bars between my fingers. A man stood there with his hands behind his back and a sick sneer on his face. "More snacks for my pet, I presume?"

That was the magistrate. He looked too greasy to be anybody else.

A snide comment from Yuri confirmed that, and Ragou preened at the recognition. He went on to brag about the joyous death trap that was his basement as if it was normal to have rabid monsters trapped beneath a city.

I was debating the most satisfying way to rip his dumb little mustache out when he sighed. "I suppose I should go fetch Rhybgaro. He will enjoy making short work of the likes of you."

"Oh, it's too bad we already took care of him, then."

Ragou recoiled at Yuri's flippant response. "… What did you say?"

"Oh my gosh, he's old _and_ deaf. Who put him in charge of a city again?" I chimed, unable to contain myself any longer. I had been bottling up since I met everyone, but the stress of the past few days was going to kill me if I didn't let some of it out.

Something in the atmosphere shifter, telling me that this conversation was drawing to a close. I drew my sword, enjoying the way annoyance melted to fear on the magistrate's face at the hiss of steel.

He recovered quickly, turning to anger in an attempt to hide his unease. "What have you done to my pet?"

"Well maybe if you put a bell on it, you would have an easier time finding it." I didn't feel as bad about sassing the man after Yuri said that.

The magistrate huffed and crossed his arms. "No matter. I can replace him easily once I procure the proper funds."

' _Points for vocabulary.'_

"Now is really not the time for that," I hissed as Estelle confronted Ragou. He looked shocked to see her, almost as though he recognized her.

' _There is always time to recognize an extensive vocabulary.'_

Yuri drew his sword and let loose a wave of blue energy. I recognized the Azure Edge as one of his favored artes, though I was less than impressed when the bars crumpled at the force of the blow. If they couldn't stop that, could they actually hold back the monsters in the basement?

"I don't know if 'procure' is really indicative of an extensive vocabulary," I argued lightly. Ragou was running away now that we weren't contained, and I bounced lightly on the balls of my feet, ready for a chase.

A pointed look and a sharp nod from Yuri set Delta and I after the corrupt magistrate in a heartbeat.

' _It's more impressive than words you use,'_ it mused as I raced down another hallway.

"I just used 'indicative,' does that not count? There are like, four full syllables. That's twice as many as 'procure.'"

Delta growled from out in front of me, and I shook my head to clear it. She was right, I needed to focus. The echoes of laughter bounced around my mind.

I still didn't recognize any of the hallways we were racing down, leading me to believe that we were still somewhere underground. Ragou's footsteps stopped suddenly, and I slowed my pace to a walk, suddenly wary.

I pressed my back to the wall outside of the room the magistrate disappeared into when I heard the his silky voice. I counted five shadows dancing across the far wall when I peered in, then listened closely.

"I want all of them dead, but take care to keep the princess alive. The Council will have my head if any harm should befall her."

"Princess...?" I whispered to myself.

"How will we know which one she is, boss?"

"You will recognize her by her pink hair. It is quite difficult to miss."

I blinked. Estelle?

That… actually made a lot of sense. I had known that she was a noble for a while, and that she and Yuri had both travelled from Zaphias, but for her to be the princess would have been a wild assumption to make. With all of the tension, one would think that the Empire would keep a closer eye on its possible heir.

I let my head hit the wall softly with a groan. My babysitting job was finally making sense.

"Now, go. Earn your keep. Bring me their heads."

Stirred from my musings at the order, Delta and I quickly made our way back to the others before we could be cornered by Ragou's mercenaries. As much faith as I had in our abilities to handle ourselves, I liked our odds much better as a group. Hallways were bad places for swordfights.

Thankfully, the others had found a larger space. It was a good thing too, because Rita had decided to use the walls as target practice for a few of her more flamboyant spells. I ducked under a poorly aimed fireball and held my hands up in surrender.

"Easy there- whoa. Is that the blastia?"

Rita was on a ledge overlooking a massive blastia rig, the formula screen pulled up in front of her. She was shaking in rage. Karol, Estelle, and Yuri were standing on the ground, watching with either amused, horrified, or indifferent looks on their faces, depending on who you looked at.

"Yeah, but it's all wrong! Don't they know that they can't use them like this? Ugh!" Another fireball flew into the wall.

Yuri sighed.

"Well, did you shut it down? It doesn't look very shut down to me."

"It's not that simple!" she argued, turning back to the formula screen. "There are so many different formulas coexisting in this core that shutting it down will be tricky and take time."

"Time that we don't have," I muttered. "Yuri, we've got mercenaries incoming. At least four, plus Ragou."

"I was wondering where you ran off to," he said with an easy smile. His katana was out in a flash, balanced casually on his shoulder. "We were beginning to think you were gone for good."

I scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm still babysitting you."

He waved a hand lazily in the air. "Details, details. Hey, I hope Flynn's paying you well for this. We're a bit of a handful."

"So I've realized," I sighed. Delta tensed a moment later, and I glanced back down the corridor I had just come from.

I heard Yuri telling Estelle to stay back with Pauly while Rita rained fire down from above. Karol hid behind one of the support beams after voicing the mercenaries' affiliation with the Blood Alliance. Yuri and I shared an exasperated look.

Then he smiled and gestured grandly at the four men in front of us. "After you."

I rolled my eyes and knocked his hand away.

"Vibrance!"

"Azure Edge!"

We hadn't coordinated that attack well, and both distance artes ended up striking the same opponent, who went down in a flash of color. He groaned, but didn't get back up.

' _One,'_ the voice counted helpfully.

Repede and Delta teamed up to take on another, tag teaming quite well together considering they still could barely stand each other's presence.

' _Two.'_

Yuri and I followed suit and took on the last of the goons together. He was a mountain of a man, clad in thick armor and wielding a nasty looking axe. I blocked a swing meant to cleave me in half and grimaced as it jarred my arm. I hated fighting axe users.

' _Three.'_ Rita had picked off another from her perch.

I slid under the man's arm as he swung again, letting Yuri deal with him from the front as I slashed at the back of his knee where the armor was lacking. The man staggered, giving Yuri time to charge aer into his blade and land a crippling blow across his chest that tore through the armor as if it were paper. The mountain crumpled.

' _Four. Took you long enough.'_

"We need to get out of here before Flynn shows up." Yuri spoke casually, flicking blood from his blade as though he hadn't just killed a man with it. He turned to the others and made a 'hurry up' gesture.

"Oh, you don't really think that he would get here that quickly, do you?" our mage challenged, firing yet another fireball at the magistrate. He had been attempting to creep out of the room while we were dealing with his goons, but between Repede, Delta, and now Rita, he was frozen in place.

"Magistrate," came a familiar voice, "I don't know what's happened here, but allow us to off you our assistance."

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Yuri groaned, shoulders slumping. "Do you see what you did?"

"Flynn?" Estelle always sounded happy to see Flynn, though that happiness was belied by confusion this time around. She clung tighter to Pauly, who clung tighter to her in turn. Delta backed off now that there was enough attention on the corrupt man to keep him from running. She was by my side a moment later, nuzzling at my leg and smearing blood all over my pants. I shooed her away.

The magistrate was grumbling to himself about meddling kids when the huge window that I had somehow _failed_ to notice before exploded, and the world dissolved into chaos.

I don't even know what happened next because I was on the ground in complete _agony._ The voice was screaming something awful and inhuman straight into my mind, and I couldn't escape the sound as hard as I tried. My sword fell limply from my grip as I moved to press my hands to my temples to try and lessen the pain.

No relief came.

I was aware of shouts and intense heat coming from my surroundings, but I was too busy trying not to cry out to really give a damn about what was happening. Delta's cold nose ghosted past my forehead, concerned, and I whimpered. A concerned mewl was my only reply.

I felt as though my brain was being put though a blender, and the shrieks only got more and more intense with every second that passed. I felt a tear squeeze its way past my tightly shut eyes, and I let it fall. In that moment, I wanted to die.

And then it stopped.

I blinked at the ground, then at Delta's sharp, yellow eyes. She leaned forward and licked the tear from my cheek. I breathed sharply though my nose in lieu of a laugh.

There was a residual ringing in my ears in the silence that followed, and I pushed myself up from the floor with ease. It was as if nothing had happened.

Except, of course, that the room was now on fire and the blastia core had a hole in it. What the hell. Yuri ran past me, followed closely by Rita and Estelle. Karol stopped beside me and nodded in understanding.

"The dragon rider scared me too, Isa. I can't believe he really came in and destroyed that blastia."

Wait what?

I didn't have time to ask him what the hell he was talking about because he pointed up the set of stairs the others had disappeared up. "Come on, Ragou is getting away!"

I scooped up my sword and followed him mechanically, still shaken up by what had just happened.

What _had_ just happened?

I was almost afraid to ask the voice. I didn't think I could handle if it spoke in that shrill dialect again. Once was one time too many for me.

I would have walked into Yuri's back had Delta not wound her way through my legs to bring me to a stop before I embarrassed myself. I shot her a quick, pained smile.

"I don't know," he was saying to Rita. "I'd like to pick that dragon rider's brain some time."

The mage sputtered angrily. "Ugh, as if you could have a normal conversation with that monster loving freak!"

"Hey, you have normal conversations with Scout here all the time!" he protested.

 _That_ woke me up a little. "Scout?"

Yuri turned to me with a grin. "Yeah, Scout."

"Hey, that's cool!" Karol chimed in. "You always disappear and end up a couple steps ahead of us, so it fits pretty well!"

"See, even Captain Karol agrees that it works."

Estelle hid a giggle behind her hand. Rita was too busy scowling at a flower to care much.

I sighed harshly. "Aren't we supposed to be chasing Ragou? He's getting away and I still have to pay him back for almost dooming Halure."

That seemed to spur everybody back in to motion, and once Pauly assured us he could find his way back home we were off at a run again. Repede and Delta raced each other out of the front gates of the manor, noses to the ground in pursuit of Ragou's scent.

On the bright side, the destruction of the blastia stopped the storm. The sun was shining again, and the world looked so much more lively. As we raced through the streets and to the ports, I could see signs of life in the sleepy little town as people stirred from their homes. Capua Nor was waking up again.

And since the weather was normal here, I could rest a bit easier about leaving Halure.

In a burst of speed, Delta bolted up a ramp and jumped onto the deck of a leaving ship. I hadn't noticed when we reached the shipyard, but Repede and Estelle were both quick to follow. Rita flipped gracefully over the ledge a moment later, and Yuri grabbed a protesting Karol and leaped as well.

The ship was picking up speed by the time I reached the end of the dock, so I took a deep breath and launched myself at a low hanging rope. My hands burned as I slipped down before readjusting my grip and making my way up to the deck. We were on our way by the time I was back on solid ground.

The ship lurched on the waves, and I head Karol tumble to the deck. Solid ground was a relative term here.

I was by the back of the boat, somewhere behind the main cabin that led below decks. Rita was mouthing off from somewhere else about blastia cores and thieves and I stopped with my hand on the railing of the ship.

I hadn't forgotten that Yuri was hunting for a blastia thief, and I'd overheard the others talking about the core in question, but I hadn't put the pieces together until now. Ragou must be behind that as well.

Just one more reason to kill the bastard, in my humble opinion.

I shook my head and snuck around the back of the cabin. There was a door a few steps away that caught my attention. Well, the door didn't catch my attention so much as the huge padlock on it did.

Curious, I pushed aer into my fingertips. They glowed a watery blue, matching the light from the bodhi blastia hanging from my neck to echo the rolling waves. A sharp movement later left the lock in pieces in my hands. I tossed them carelessly into the sea and opened the door, hand on the hilt of my sword.

The inside of the cabin was poorly lit, with the only light coming from the cracked door I had just opened. My blastia glowed as I grew agitated and pushed aer into my drawn sword. The flash of blue drew out a startled yelp from the room's sole occupant.

"Please, don't hurt me! I was taken, I didn't do anything wrong!"

I stared at the blonde man – boy? – cowering in front of me. I shook the aer from my blade and reached out to him now that my eyes had adjusted to the dim light. He was clearly a noble, if the way he was dressed was any indication. With how my luck was running he was probably just as important as Estelle. I couldn't just leave him here.

"Come on then. I want to get out of here just as badly as you do."

I pushed him into the sunlight ahead of me just as I heard the slippery voice of Ragou call out: "Zagi? I leave the rest to you."

The floorboards rumbled beneath me, and I turned warily to the room we had just vacated. I had seen the stairs leading below decks, but when nobody came forth at my breaking in I had assumed that the rest of the ship was empty.

I realized just how dumb that was when there was a flash of red on the edges of my vision before a hand curled around my neck and _squeezed_.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" I choked, seeing red as the man crushed my throat. "Another one for me to kill, hmm?"

I was lucky to have my sword already drawn, and I slashed at him blindly once I regained some of my composure. He let go with a harsh laugh, dancing out of the way of my flailing blade.

"Oohh, you're gonna be so much fun. I'll enjoy killing you!" There was a crazed look in his eye, and I suddenly hated being on my own. I had to get back to the others.

"Zagi!" Ragou ordered from who the hell knows where. "I meant _now_!"

Zagi, I guess that was the madman's name, straightened up from the crouch he had fallen in to and darted away at the command.

I took a deep, shuddering breath. My hand fluttered at my throat, wincing at the light contact. I coughed. There would definitely be a bruise there later. My eyes trailed over to the blonde kid from before. He was visibly shaken, but otherwise unharmed. Good.

"Stay here." Oh _shit_ , my voice was wrecked. The man winced at the gravelly suggestion, but nodded nonetheless. If we were going to fight that guy, this noble needed to be far away. I left him cowering in a corner and made my way out to the main portion of the deck.

Everything was on fire.

I had to marvel at Rita's ability to pull that element out of aer at will, especially being out on the water like we were. All I could pick out right now was water and light, and though I wasn't a mage by any stretch of the imagination, I had always had a pretty good sense for aer.

I sighed, and took up a spot next to Estelle. She was casting a healing arte on Yuri, who had taken it upon himself to battle Zagi. As much as I wanted to join them, I could tell when I was outmatched. The two men danced around the deck in an impressive show of power and skill, and I was mesmerized by it.

I had never really had the opportunity to watch Yuri fight. Sure, I had seen him take on monsters plenty of times, but they didn't always require the finesse and planning that he was pouring into the fight at hand. His katana sang as he launched into a string of artes that I didn't know he knew, finishing with a particularly flashy one that left behind the image of a wolf's head in the aer.

"Ah! That hurts!"

Yuri lowered his blade, but kept it ready. "You put up a good fight," he allowed. There was something wary in his tone, as though he didn't think that this would end any time soon. I could see the blood seeping through the fabric of Zagi's shirt, and he clutched at his upper arm in pain.

"You're tough! Yes, tough!" he laughed. "Definitely tough. I won't forget that, Yuri Lowell!"

The boards beneath our feet shook. Karol fell – again – in my peripheral vision, and I saw Estelle sway as well. That certainly hadn't come from the sea.

"I'm gonna carve you up into little pieces," Zagi continued. "Don't move a damned muscle!"

Just as he was about to launch himself back at Yuri, an explosion from below the deck lurched, throwing Zagi over the side of the ship. He went with a strangled yelp and flew some hundred or so meters out into the waves. Rita laughed out loud, then quickly covered her mouth to hide the outburst. Estelle ran over to Yuri, casting another First Aide on him for good measure.

"Ah, guys?"

Delta ran over, pushing that noble from earlier towards me. I caught his shoulder as he stumbled, and he smiled gratefully before letting out a rough cough. The fires from before roared higher and higher, filling the air with a thick black smoke.

"Guys, the ship is sinking!" Karol shouted.

Yuri stood quickly and shoved Estelle and Rita toward the edge of the ship. "Into the water, now!"

Between the downward pull of the ship and the heat of the flames, I didn't have to be told twice. I jumped on to the railing, tugging the noble up after me, and kicked off into the waiting waves.

* * *

I guess I did sort of avoid the fighting again in this chapter. Oh well.

Hey look, Isadora can be funny. And chatty? She must have hit her head between chapters. Get the girl an ice pack and some Tylenol, her head isn't right.

She actually can be _super_ chatty, evident here in her conversations with the voice in her head. She just isn't super comfortable with everybody else yet. She's getting there with Karol though, and there's a funny sort of sarcastic friendship thing happening with Yuri.

Next chapter is in the works but is also on the back burner of the stove that is my free time because yay for the school year ending and omg I'm going to die because of finals. That said, I hope to see you all soon!

 _-Han_


	7. Chapter 7

So yay, happy summer break!

Normally this would mean a bit more free time to write, but I recently got an internship with the Detroit Police Department and also decided to torture myself and take a few summer classes, so I won't make any promises for when chapters will get out.

Thanks so much for all of your patience!

Also, please read the bottom author's note, I've got some ideas I want to bounce off of you guys!

Thanks to _CallmeCrazylol, Blue-Black Flames, SaRan1999_ , and _Dictator-Chan_ for your reviews! Hearing from you al so consistently really means the world to me!

* * *

I had a thing for sitting on the edge of things.

Be it the edge of a cliff, a roof, or even just a table, I really liked to swing my legs back and forth into open air. It's one of the reasons I liked to climb trees so much.

Childish? Perhaps. Some people preferred to call it reckless.

I disagreed. I found it freeing.

One of those people I disagreed with was apparently Yuri, as he commented drily on the way my feet dangled out over the open water. I just raised an eyebrow at his tone and raised my bare foot in greeting.

I got an eye roll and a subject change in response.

"You talked to Flynn earlier?"

I hummed. Word travelled fast on a small boat. "We had words."

Harsh words, of course, about the fact that Estelle was a princess – one of the candidates to the imperial throne. He shrunk down under the force of my anger and weakly argued that it didn't change anything.

But it changed _everything_.

Yuri put his back to the edge, coming close to brushing my shoulder with his own as he studied the stars on the other side of the sky. A comfortable silence settled over us, and I was left to wonder if he knew the truth about Estelle too.

"You were more excited than I've seen you before. That was new."

"I don't do excited," came my flippant denial. I typically saved eccentricities for those I was comfortable with. My actions in Ragou's manor were atypical for me to show around people I didn't really know. I had already promised myself that it wouldn't happen again any time soon.

He shrugged with one shoulder. "Sure you don't. That's why you were so talkative." He was teasing. I didn't appreciate it.

"Next time I'll leave you on your own to die." There would be no skin off my back.

"Hey now." He was quick to defend, hand up and voice light. "I didn't say it was a bad thing, it was just unexpected."

I hummed. "I think the best things are the unexpected. What fun is life without a few plot twists?"

"If you say so."

There was something there, hidden in the tone of his voice when he said that. There was a story there, in those words. I could tell. As curious as I was, I chose not to press. I didn't care that much.

Silence stretched again. A shooting star burned brightly on the right edge of my vision, and I smiled faintly at a distant memory. Yuri shot me a questioning look, but I shook my head. If he wasn't telling stories, then neither was I.

My thoughts started drifting, and my hand found its way to my throat. I was still a bit upset with how sore it was. My voice wasn't a piece of garbage anymore, thank goodness for a special blend of oils, but it still rasped and broke at random times, letting everyone know that something wasn't quite right.

Estelle had offered to heal me, and I had refused as politely as I could before running in the opposite direction and hiding from her for the rest of the day. There was a reason I didn't like having healing artes used on me, and I didn't need anybody finding out the hard way.

"Captain Karol says we should be at Torim Harbor soon," Yuri said casually some time later. "Are you familiar with the city or are you going to run off as soon as we get there?"

"That depends," I mused, "on what you're planning. You're still chasing that core thief, right? Barbos?" Karol had filled me in on what I had missed from Ragou's ship when I was off rescuing that kid. I was just glad that I had had a brief run in with a preoccupied Zagi and not him. Zagi was cruel but Barbos sounded _horrid_.

Yuri was nodding. "The Lower Quarter needs that core back, and I made a promise."

"Then I don't see the problem with me disappearing for a while to find out what I can about him."

"You're going to help get the core back." It wasn't a question, but more of a surprised statement.

I smirked at his raised eyebrow. "I may have talked to Flynn earlier, but that doesn't mean that I got out of babysitting you."

"Is that the only reason you're sticking around? Because Flynn told you to?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly after a moment of thought. Why _was_ I still here?

"Is that why you always sneak off?" He was probably still hung up on the comment I made earlier about running off and leaving them to die. But still, I didn't understand why he was pushing this so much.

I glared out at the dark water. "Being with a group is new for Delta and I, Yuri. We've been on our own for a long time, and asking permission to do things was never a thing I did anyway." I waved a hand absently. "It's just what we do."

The sassy reply that I was expecting never came. A quick glance to my left told me Yuri was busy looking at the stars, face blank.

My eyes narrowed. "Why do you care all of the sudden?"

I knew he was getting serious when he turned to face me completely. I pursed my lips and met his dark eyes. He didn't say anything, just studied my face in the starlight. I wondered what he was looking for.

I wondered if he found it in what he saw.

I suppose I had my answer when his eyes drifted closed. "I trust you to have our backs," he admitted. "I just want to know for how long."

I breathed sharply through my nose, the barest echo of a laugh. "I don't mind travelling until you find your core. What's happening is wrong, and it needs to stop."

"And you really want to stay and see it through." There was no real emotion in his voice. Just stating facts.

"Well," I started, gesturing at the open water, "there's really nowhere for me to go right now except Capua Torim with you." I closed my eyes briefly. "Not really my choice at this point."

"You always have a choice."

I sighed, finding parallels between a conversation in Halure and this one. "If you want me gone, say so Yuri."

He just pushed off the railing and disappeared into the night.

I didn't know how to react. He was so damn difficult to read sometimes.

So I stayed where I was, too keyed up about the events of the past few days to allow myself to fall asleep. The sky was starting to lighten, moving from the deepest of blues to purples and pinks as the sunrise painted itself across the horizon. A land mass was growing steadily in the distance, framed beautifully by the rising sun.

I eyed it with disdain and whispered to myself:

"Welcome back, Isadora."

* * *

Torim Harbor was a much different place than Nor, and not just because they were on different continents. As port cities, both were typically lively and fast paced, but Torim was just bigger in terms of size. Fortune's Market ran the show around here, and it was evident in the efficient nature of the town that they knew what they were doing.

That also meant that there was no chance for a corrupt magistrate to swoop in and wreak havoc on them all. Kaufman and her guild were a lot more honorable than that.

We stepped off the boat into the bright sunlight of the early morning after spending the rest of the night on board. There was no sense in paying for room at the inn when there were perfectly good bunks below decks.

Delta was happy to be off the ship, and was off like a shot, nose to the ground. I sighed as she disappeared into the streets. The voice in my head had gone quiet again, and I would have liked someone to talk to.

The others were talking to Flynn, who had just returned from who knows where, but I wasn't paying much attention to what they were saying. I followed them blindly as they moved away, toying with the chain around my neck.

My bodhi blastia was something I inherited from my father. It was small and the deepest shade of blue I had ever seen. Light seemed to shift and swirl within it, and there were times where I watched it, mesmerized for hours. It hung on a long, silver chain, falling to the end of my sternum where it was easily within reach. I found comfort in playing with it.

There were similar stones on my sword, too. I carried a jian, another gift from my father. There was a stone about half of the size of my fist at the end of the pommel, and three more were embedded in the steel by the point of the blade. They got smaller in size the closer they got to the tip, and they had always intrigued me.

The stones weren't blastia, that much I was certain of, but they glowed faintly when I used artes, meaning that there was a reaction to the aer. I just couldn't figure out what that meant. And my father wasn't exactly around to explain it to me, so I had long since given up hope for understanding what was happening from a scientific angle.

Rita's excited voice was carried to my ears on a soft sea breeze. Then again…

At some point we had crossed town and ended up at one of the local inns, Pollux T. I chased away a far off memory and followed mindlessly behind the others into a room. I snapped back to reality when the door slammed, and I was immediately on edge at the frigid atmosphere. Becoming more aware of my surroundings as time went on, I heard Rita curse and Estelle gasp lightly at a robed figure standing by the blonde kid from the sunken ship.

I scoffed. "Fancy meeting you here, Magistrate."

Ragou peered at us over the rims of his glasses with disdain. "Have we met somewhere?"

There was a pull in the aer, and a formula slowly knit itself across the ground under Rita's feet as she seethed. The inevitable fireball flickered out of existence when Yuri placed a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Convenient time for amnesia," he said accusingly. "I know someone who can fix that for you."

His voice was steady, but there was tension in his stance. He was ready for a fight. When Ragou spoke again, I wasn't positive that Yuri could win in a battle of words.

"Oh no, I'm afraid you're mistaken. This is the first time we've met."

I forced myself to bite my tongue as Flynn stepped in. He would be more diplomatic than any of us. "Your crimes are undeniable. These people have witnessed everything." Oh he was _mad_. Good.

"As I've explained," Ragou sighed, tone patronizing, "someone had assumed my identity in an attempt to destroy my reputation. It was most upsetting, I assure you."

Rita and Karol blew up simultaneously. I pressed a hand to my forehead and drew in a deep breath through my nose. The kids weren't helping anything.

"Sir Flynn?" I deflated a bit when he pulled the knight card on Yuri's friend. "Who will you believe, an esteemed member of the Council or these wanted criminals?"

Damn, he had a good point. Flynn's hands were effectively tied, and we all knew it.

"Flynn…"

Ragou clapped twice at the lack of response, a smirk splitting his wrinkled face. "So it's settled then. I bid you good day, sirs, madams."

And then he was gone, staring us down as he went.

I sat down on the edge of a coffee table and pulled at the end of my braid. Things were going to absolute shit, and I had no idea how to fix them, so I faded to the background, content to observe until there was a viable course of action. As badly as I wanted to kill the man, murdering a member of the Council was generally frowned upon.

"And just who the hell is he!?"

The blonde man at the end of Rita's accusing finger stared wide eyed at Flynn at the mage's outburst. Several long beats of silence passed before Estelle took a step forward and gestured grandly at the latter of the two.

"This," she announced slowly, "is His Royal Highness Prince Ioder, candidate for the imperial throne."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," I cursed under my breath. I picked myself up and showed myself out under the startled gazes of Karol and Flynn. A part of me felt bad for storming out, but I was _not_ dealing with more sheltered royalty right now.

The door slammed behind me, just as it had with Ragou only minutes before. I stormed through the lobby of the inn, wondering if there was a way I could catch up to the magistrate and follow through on my plan for murder and run before anybody realized what happened.

I blinked in the harsh morning sunlight once I finally made it outside again. Almost immediately, there was a familiar weight against my legs, and I welcomed my partner back with a quick pat on her head.

"Hope you had a good time because I sure didn't."

She only huffed in response and started leading me away. I fell easily into step beside her. I had come to the realization that I was probably in over my head, and what with all the royalty and corrupt officials I was surrounded with, I was glad to have some sense of normalcy again.

Capua Torim was waking up in earnest, and it was a relief to see. A small, irrational part of me was worried that things here would be the same as the situation across the sea. This town wasn't my favorite place in the world, but it was still important to me.

I lived here when Delta was only a few months old, back when I was travelling all the time. Settling hadn't been a part of the original world traveler plan, but there was a situation that forced us to take a step back and take a break.

That said, I didn't particularly like living here. Too many people, always too lively. While I didn't mind people in general, everyone was always in such a rush here. There were too many expectations and too much stress. My laid–back personality clashed spectacularly with the excited atmosphere of a big port town.

What's more is Fortune's Market ran a tight ship. I'm a military brat, and living in a guild city was an adjustment that I didn't make particularly well after spending so long in places where the empire's influence was so strong.

Delta sneezed, and I smiled down at her. She remembered just as well as I did. We weren't here for long, but it was still a place to call home.

We walked around town for a while before making our way back toward the inn. Not because I wanted to see everybody again, but because there really wasn't anywhere else to go. Torim was a big place, but I had seen enough of it in my lifetime to satisfy my curiosity. At this point I just wanted to sit down.

There were benches near the door to Pollux T, and I made myself comfortable on one of them. Delta curled up in the shade beneath me, and I watched as a ship pulled into port. It was peaceful for a moment.

And then in a flash of purple, I wasn't alone.

"Hey there, Izzy darlin'."

"Hello."

"What, is that all for ol' Raven? I'm hurt!"

I spared him a quick glance and scoffed at his dramatic pose. "You look fine to me."

He slumped onto the bench beside me and started off about how the women in his life always treated him so harshly. I grimaced and made myself small on the edge of the bench. If he wanted to sit, fine. Whatever. But did he have to be so damn _close_ to me?

He smirked suddenly and leaned his head back casually. "So how'd the raid on the magistrate go? Find what you were lookin' for?"

I blinked, unimpressed. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a civilian. Raids are a but outside of my field of expertise."

"What now, didn't wanna follow in Daddy's footsteps?"

My curiosity piqued at the mention of my father, but I made no indication that it bothered me. "I wanted to walk my own path." If he wanted to test poker faces, he'd have to pull out a lot more to crack mine. "'Sides, I'm not cut out for it."

"Oh, I don't know about that, sweetheart" he countered with an easy smile. "Yer a legacy kid. You'd rank up in a heartbeat, like that Flynn kid. Life'd be a breeze. Probably get away with murder if ya wanted."

"I'll keep that in mind when I come for you." The shock on his face was enough for me to grin wolfishly. Delta sprang up and onto the bench a heartbeat later, scaring the old man from his seat entirely.

He blinked up at me from the ground with a frown. "Now yer just bein' cruel."

I shrugged halfheartedly and scratched behind Delta's ear as she curled into my lap.

"Hey, it's the old man."

We both turned to face the newcomer, approaching from where he had just exited the inn. He ignored me, which I was fine with, and stood over Raven with a hand on his hip.

The old man held up a hand to block the sunlight from his eyes. "Hey there."

"What are you doing on the ground?"

"Long story, kiddo." He pushed himself up and dusted off his pants. "Long time no see."

Yuri looked a bit miffed. "Isn't there something else you should be saying?"

"Hmm? Can't think of anything." There was a faux innocence woven into his wide eyes, and they sparkled with mischief.

Yuri's own eyes darkened a fraction. "They say the deceived have better memories than the deceiver, don't they."

Raven sighed dramatically and turned to me with a pout. "I'm just terribly misunderstood, Izzy dear. Honest!"

I waved a hand absently. "I don't know what either of you are talking about, and I don't really care. Please don't drag me into this."

Yuri carried on as if I hadn't spoken. "You should see a doctor about your tendency to cause trouble for others."

"You should see if they can fix that foul mouth of yours too," he shot back.

What exactly had I missed?

"So quick witted," Yuri sighed.

Raven winked. "Alas, I admit it."

"If you're not careful the Knights are gonna throw you back in jail."

The old man smiled and held out his arms. "Then I shall eagerly await your arrival. I'll have 'em reserve your old cell. Ya know, for nostalgia's sake."

Oh _great_ , they were jail buddies. Wasn't that perfect. I eyed them both carefully as they continued their little verbal spar. They both joked about their time behind bars as if it were nothing, and that concerned me. I knew Yuri had a bounty on his head, but to hear him be so casual about something so serious was unsettling. And why had he been in jail in the first place?

I shifted my gaze away from him, suddenly feeling sick. Maybe the voice was right and I was naïve to think I could trust him.

And then there was Raven. I wouldn't say that I trusted him to begin with, but there was something familiar about him that had made talking to him easy.

I could feel myself closing up, building up my walls higher and tighter around myself. Trusting them was going to be a bit more challenging from here out. They'd have to prove themselves to me.

"Anyway, those knights are too busy to worry about small fish like us." Raven elbowed Yuri in the side with a smirk. "They've got that rough–lookin' group heading to the northwest to keep an eye on, after all."

Yuri glanced at me before asking if it was the Blood Alliance. Raven just shrugged, the useless old man.

"What are you doing here Raven?" I cut in, fed up with all of the chatting.

He turned his back and spoke over his shoulder. "Nothin' too special. Just looking for an apatheia."

"What's that?"

"It's supposedly a really strong blastia core. Heard there might be one around here, but my intel must be gettin' old." He closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. "All that work for nothin'."

Yuri stroked his chin in thought. No doubt wondering if that apatheia could replace the aquae blastia's core for the Lower Quarter.

Raven took his leave when Rita showed up and started mouthing off about kicking his ass into next month for what he did. She took off after him, and they both disappeared down the boardwalk. Karol was better, but he wasn't any happier that Yuri had just let him go. Estelle, ever the calm one, just smiled softly at everyone's antics.

What the hell had I missed?

"He's just terribly misunderstood," Yuri parroted in lieu of an explanation. I scoffed.

He then filled the others in on the movements of the Blood Alliance somewhere to the northwest, and gave the outlines of a plan to follow them. Repede barked once when his partner asked if everyone was ready to go. Delta hissed at his volume.

I shifted in my seat, suddenly uncomfortable for some reason.

Delta licked at my hand, and I patted her head absently. Something had been off since this morning, and something nagged at the corner of my mind.

I blinked at my own stupidity.

Then I reached for the voice.

A hollow silence filled my mind instead, and I shivered when I realized that that was indeed the missing link. I hadn't heard from it in a while. Had it truly been since Ragou's mansion? That had been a few days ago. An involuntary shiver wracked my body before I tuned back in to Yuri's casual drawl.

"Karol, why don't you take Scout with you to find Rita."

I only raised an eyebrow at the assumption that I would be accompanying them.

"We leave in an hour."

* * *

When Karol dropped into the dust and refused to stand again, we decided to take a break.

Rita hurled complaints as Yuri and Estelle dragged the kid off to a more comfortable resting spot, and I rolled my eyes at their antics. This wasn't a bad place to stop. The road we had been following was barren and lacked any sort of scenery.

It had been a boring few hours, to say the least.

At least here there were a few trees off to the side. I made my way there, seeking a hiding place more out of habit than necessity.

The branches were up too high for me to climb comfortably, so I settled in at the base of the trunk. Delta took up residence above me, scaling the length of the tree with ease, the showoff. The shade was a welcome change from the relentless afternoon sun, and I sighed, content.

Yuri wouldn't give us too long of a rest. Not when the only lead he had on the core thief was running away from him. That knowledge, however, did nothing to deter me from sneaking in a nap while I had the chance.

I grinned when I heard Delta yawning above me. We were scarily similar sometimes.

Apparently resting meant different things to some people, because there was a shift in the aer around me that had me snapping to attention. I relaxed a bit when I saw that it was only Estelle, and tried to ignore the strange fluctuation I had felt when she drew near.

She sat on her knees at my side without a word, playing absently with the grass. I settled back against the tree, eyes still trained on her tense form. It was clear that she was over here for a reason, though I couldn't fathom what that reason was. We hadn't really spoken today.

I sighed.

"Say what you need to say, Estelle." I put my hands back behind my head and let my eyes drift shut as she worked up the courage to speak her mind.

"Why didn't you want me to heal you?"

Oh.

I lazily opened one eye to meet the look she was giving me. Concern and a confused sort of hurt were swimming in the sharp green of her irises and I had to look away. I didn't need people to worry about me.

But she didn't stop staring at me. I could _feel_ it.

"Estelle," I finally said, shifting uncomfortably under the intensity of her gaze, "it's not that I didn't want your help. I'm just –" I struggled as I searched for the right way to tell her. "Look, you know that healing artes work differently on different people, right?"

She nodded. "It depends largely on the amount of latent magic within that person's body. Other factors include positive or negative genetic disposition and the number of times they have had healing magic used in them before."

"Alright bookworm, then you know that those artes can sometimes have the opposite effect on people."

Estelle gasped, raising her hand to cover her mouth as she started to put things together. "But, Is, does that mean that you…"

"I'm just special," I shrugged and let my fingers drift up to my neck and play at the edges of the yellowing bruise there. "Figured it out the hard way a few years ago what happens when healers try to do their thing with me."

"Well what happened?"

I turned to Rita, who had plopped down between Estelle and myself. She looked at me expectantly.

I just stared blankly back into her – huh. Her eyes were green too, but sort of deeper, more thoughtful shade than Estelle's. She was a mage, a renowned researcher of most things magical. It was surprising that she hadn't heard of the incidents with healing artes.

"It wasn't pretty," I allowed after a while before settling back against the tree we were under. "But you'll never have to see it, so I wouldn't worry about it too much."

That didn't exactly appease either girl, and Rita voiced her opinions rather loudly. Estelle just deflated and stared down at her hands, looking put out now that she knew the one thing she could do for others was useless for me.

I fought the urge to pity her. She was doing enough of that for both of us.

Something must have come to mind, because she snapped her attention to my face a moment later, all traces of earlier self-doubt gone. I raised an eyebrow over Rita's continuous yelling, wondering what was on her mind.

"If you didn't use a healing arte, how is it that your wounds look as though you did?"

I hummed, reaching for the bag on my back. "I have enough latent magic in me that these work just as well."

And that was how Yuri found us when it was time to start moving again: sitting in a small circle on the ground with a case of oils open in front of us, Rita and Estelle debating the pros and cons of magic while I sat back and watched.

He would insist that there was a small smile on my face, but I told him, politely, to go to hell.

* * *

I was really starting to hate rain. First in Capua Nor, now here? At lease this was a natural weather phenomenon and not the work of a slimy council member and some ridiculous blastia.

Caer Bocram. That's where we were heading. Karol and I had pieced together the name of the old city from the maps he carried in his oversized bag and some of the rumors told to us by a group of travelers we had met on the way.

Supposedly it was ravaged by an earthquake around the time of the Great War, and had fallen from maps since then. Which wasn't suspicious in the least. It wasn't like the city wasn't there anymore, people just didn't live there. What was the point of removing all traces of it?

Unless there was something to hide.

It was nearly dusk by the time we reached the outskirts of the ruins. There was just enough light to see the wreckage, and Yuri voiced his opinion as he placed a hand on a crumbling piece of concrete.

"Why would anybody want to come here?" Rita wondered aloud. She and Karol were at the head of the group for once, curiosity etched firmly across both of their faces.

"I wonder…" the princess whispered under her breath. I huffed. Thinking of her as a princess felt wrong. I leaned up against a tree, watching the others as they wandered a bit further into the fallen city. I had taken up the rear again, spirits dampened by the rain. Water made me tired.

I flinched suddenly. Something was digging into my hip.

Pulling back from the tree, I could see a deep gash in the bark. It was a clean cut, leaving a v shape cut into the trunk. My eyes narrowed as my fingers played at the smooth edges, realizing what this meant.

This was recent. We weren't alone here.

I had just stood up again to voice my findings to the group when a shrill shout filled the air.

"That's far enough!" Delta and I immediately sank lower to the ground, eyes and ears alert. "This area is under the jurisdiction of the Hunting Blades!"

Ah, hell. Not them.

"These measures have been taken to prevent the injury of innocent bystanders."

"Nan!" cried Karol. "I found you!"

I pressed my fist into my forehead. I had forgotten that Karol had introduced himself as a member of that guild when I first met him. Of course he knew this girl.

They continued talking, but I mostly tuned them out. I didn't really care what they were shouting about. What I really wanted was to get somewhere dry. And explore these ruins. Not particularly in that order.

Nan gave another warning about trespassing on land claimed by the Hunting Blades that seemed to imply that they would kill us if they found us. She made it clear that she had seen all of our faces, and wouldn't humor us with a second chance.

But I was under the cover of the trees, so there was a chance that she hadn't seen me. Delta was already slinking back, deeper into the growing darkness, clearly on the same page as me. For the first time, I hesitated before following.

The ongoing conversation, which had turned into even more of a shouting match at this point, and had a firm grasp on everyone's attention. Odds are, nobody would notice if I just slipped away. It was just as likely that nobody would care.

My gaze lingered a bit too long on Yuri's back, mind hung up on words we'd exchanged before letting the shadows swallow me.

" _It's just what we do."_

* * *

Bonus points if you can pull out the musical reference I slammed somewhere in there.

Also Yay for more of Is's backstory and sassy moments with people she refuses to admit that she's starting to like.

Ugh I cannot wait to get past these little opening events and moments and really get into all of the drama. Because let's be honest. Shit's gonna hit the fan when we meet certain people and it's gonna be such a roller coaster.

I can't wait.

Okay. So. I have a few ideas for little side stories.

I'd really like to write more of the stuff that happens "off screen" here in the main story, so I'm thinking that once we get into more of the action and drama of Passing Silhouettes that I'll post another story that has more of the relationship building moments between characters, like the little scene with the girls in this chapter, and any other requested one-shots that you guys want to see.

Thoughts? Y'all can PM me with ideas if you want!

 _-Han_


	8. Chapter 8

So this chapter turned out to be a lot more intense than I had originally planned. And a lot longer. Hopefully that makes up for the fact that it's been a while since the last update?

Also, apparently FanFiction has been weird and failing in sending out notifications about updates? So just check to make sure you're up to date on chapters!

Special thanks to _SaRan1999_ and _CallmeCrazylol_ for reviewing!

* * *

There was no light left by the time I saw everybody again.

They were standing some thirty yards downwind, in the middle of what had once been the main plaza. Delta and I had the higher ground, silently observing from afar. My partner was slinking backwards toward the tree line, intending to stay out of sight.

As a general rule, if you could see someone, they could see you too.

But I had my cloak was wrapped tightly around me, and there was a light rain. I put my hand on her back to keep her in place. Unless we did something to give ourselves away, even Repede wouldn't know we were there.

I watched as Yuri led them into one of the decaying buildings. With a sigh, I made the decision to move to follow. Thinking back, being alone in the middle of a decimated town with only a hunting guild and my partner who happened to technically be a monster, while exciting, wasn't exactly my idea of a good time. I was confident, but I wasn't stupid. I knew when I was outmatched.

Delta huffed, and I almost shoved her, thinking that she'd been in tune with my thoughts again. But when I looked down, I had to pause.

Her ears were flat against her head, stomach low to the ground, and eyes focused intently on something across in the distance. Other than the initial warning, she was silent. My hand moved to the hilt on my sword as I lowered myself to her level, trying to see what she could.

It took a moment, but I was finally able to make out a group of figures in the distance.

I swore softly under my breath.

We'd found the rest of the Hunting Blades.

Some were holding lanterns while others gestured wildly at a large piece of paper – a map? I couldn't tell at this distance. They were shouting and shoving at each other, joking tones clear in the air between us.

Delta pressed up close to me, and I placed my hand on her head to steady us both. As we sat there, listening to their nonsensical babbling, I bit my lip, brow furrowing. Why were there so many of them?

In my experience, members of the Hunting Blades typically worked in pairs or in groups of three. The people who joined were loners who didn't work well in groups. Halure had hired them for the spring festival a few years back, and the guild had only sent four people to defend the entire town and the surrounding areas.

The mayor had not been pleased.

My fingers carded absently through the fur at Delta's neck as I thought. Was there something happening here that would require two dozen or so guildsmen? It didn't make any sense.

I had explored almost the entirety of the fallen city, and there wasn't much to report. It was deserted, practically unlivable since the earthquake all those years ago. All that was left were monsters who had migrated into the empty streets. Even then, nothing we'd faced had been powerful enough to pose much of a problem.

So unless there was something huge that I had missed, there wasn't any reason that the Hunting Blades should be occupying this area.

Moving silently, Delta and I ghosted over the rough terrain to approach the guildsmen. We stopped a small ways away, ever in the cover of the trees. My hand still on Delta's raised hackles, I tried to identify the members by their voices. I wasn't so well acquainted with the guild that I could pick out the lesser members, but if any of the higher ups were around, I might be in luck.

Not that I wanted any of the higher ups to be here. That would be bad.

The voice wasn't around to tell me that I had jinxed myself, but I realized it as soon as the thought crossed my mind.

"Alright, here she comes!"

My entire body froze and I swore again. That was Tison. And if he was here-

"Get it, Chief!"

And then a Gattou was there, snarling viscously at the humans in front of her. I was close enough that the blood seeping slowly down her side glinted harshly in the lamplight, and I had to look away. She wouldn't survive this. Not with the Chief around.

Chief meant Clint. And Clint meant business.

The Gattou went down under a single, fatal strike from Clint's massive sword and I hugged my partner close when I heard her low whine.

The guild was still celebrating the ruthlessness of their leader and the death of another monster when we slipped away in pursuit of Yuri and the others. Delta was leading by a half step, head low to the ground. I couldn't decide if she was trying to find our group's scents or if she was mourning.

I didn't ask.

Either way, we pushed past a rotting wooden door and into a blissfully dry building. I peeled off my cloak and shoved in back into my bag as Delta shook the water from her fur with a huff.

"Drama queen," I chided, and received a short growl in response. I pulled at the end of my braid and started wringing all of the rainwater out. "Hey, how mad do you think they'll be when we show up again?"

My partner blinked owlishly back at me.

I sighed. "Yeah. Maybe we should just turn around and head for somewhere remote." I flicked my braid back over my shoulder and placed my hand on my hips. "Back to Mantaic? You always liked the heat."

Delta started moving toward a set of stairs off to the left, and I followed, eyes on the ceiling. "I mean, I don't actually hate these guys, I just hate being on a leash. You get that, don't you?"

She didn't actually respond, just bounced down the stairs and out of sight. A sad sigh pushed its way past my lips as I made my way down. I was used to talking to myself, but the voice was usually there to hold up the other end of the conversation. I loved Delta, but I'd had the voice with me for as long as I could remember. To not have its presence weighing on the back of my mind was strange. It felt empty.

The staircase started to spiral the closer we got to the ground, and a few familiar voices drifted up from the dark. I started stepping more lightly the louder they got, content to stay hidden a bit longer. By the time I got to the end of the staircase, there was an argument in full swing.

But my head was so busy pounding that I missed the majority of what they were actually saying. I blinked slowly, leaning heavily against the railing of the stairs. I held up a shaking hand and pressed it lightly against my temple while my other snaked its way around my stomach.

I almost hissed at how tender my head was, and the edges of my vision started to darken and fade away. A bead of sweat raced its way down the side of my face, and I didn't even have the energy to wipe it away. A strangled sob tried to escape my lungs, but got caught in my too tight throat as I struggled to breathe.

I felt like death.

What was happening to me?

"Just relax for a minute, Estelle. We'll have a look around and then get going once you're feeling better." Yuri's strong voice cut through my haze, and I forced my disobedient body to look up.

Estelle was sitting on the ground, leaning up against the far wall and looking every bit as frail as I felt. Rita and Karol were still standing, but Karol was shooting longing glances in Estelle's direction as if he was debating joining her on the ground. Yuri's back was to them all, eyes focused on the little green orbs of light floating gently up from the floor.

"What is this stuff?" He was asking himself, if the volume of his question was anything to go by. I honestly don't know how I even heard him, the ringing in my ears had grown so loud.

" _This is aer_ ," the voice and I said together. I flinched the words echoed through my head for the first time in what felt like forever, and almost lost my balance. Hell of a time for it to come back.

There must have been more strength to my voice than I realized I was capable of, and suddenly everybody's attention was on me.

"Is, are you alright?"

"You look like shit." Thanks, Rita.

There was suddenly a hand on my shoulder, steadying me as the world swam. "Easy there, Scout. Don't keel over on us, alright?"

If he hadn't been the one thing keeping me upright, I would have pushed him away. He only grinned when I told him that, but there was tension in his smile as he led me over to sit next to Estelle. The stone was blissfully cool, and my headache dulled to a low throb at the base of my skull.

I sighed as the room righted itself and my senses slowly returned to me. Delta was at my side a moment later, cool nose in my neck and fur tickling my cheek. I rested my head on hers and smiled tiredly at the crowd around me.

"Hi."

Karol almost exploded. "Hi? Is that all you can say? You disappeared after we met Nan and we looked for you for hours, we thought you were dead! And here you are, but you look like you're dying and you're bleeding from your eyes, all you can say is hi?"

I blinked slowly at his outburst, surprised that he had the courage to yell at me. Apparently, I didn't scare his as much as I used to.

Almost as an afterthought, I touched a hand to the wetness at my eyes. I thought I had just been crying, but my fingertips were very much red and bloody when I pulled them back in front of my face.

"Huh."

Nobody was impressed with that response either.

Estelle was fidgeting next to me, anxiety rolling off of her body in waves. Her hands were fluttering by her chest, like she wanted to cast a healing arte but knew better.

I tried not to scoot away from her. She wouldn't dare. She _did_ know better.

"Well, it's not uncommon for highly dense aer like this to be harmful to the body, but I don't know if I've ever seen a reaction as bad as this," mused Rita. Her hand was covering her mouth as she studied my ragged appearance. "Maybe you're just aer sensitive. It might explain why Estillese's artes won't work on you, too."

 _'That's not why,'_ the voice scoffed.

To Rita, I shrugged, but I made a note to ask the voice what the hell was happening when we had a moment alone.

"Maybe we should get out of here." Yuri was turned away from us, looking back and forth between where we were gathered and the staircase. Probably trying to figure out if he could carry Estelle if he needed to. _I_ would walk on my own two legs, regardless of how unsteady, thank you very much.

"Oh, but we have the clues we need to answer the door's riddle!" Estelle argued lightly, pushing herself to her feet. She staggered only for a moment before steeling herself and balling her hands into fists. "Let's keep going, I want to see what's on the other side!"

Yuri turned to me with an eyebrow raised. "You alright to keep moving?"

"Always." I followed Estelle's lead and peeled myself off the floor until I was leaning casually against the wall. I folded my arms and shot him a look that almost dared him to challenge me.

The word 'skeptical' was written plainly across his face, but Yuri nodded nonetheless before turning to where the others had gathered around the door's locking mechanism to solve the riddle.

 _'You should hide your hands, Isadora.'_

"What? Why?" I hissed back. My hands were fine where they were.

 _'They're glowing.'_

What the – my hands were glowing a faint green, the same shade of the aer rising from the ground.

"Okay, what the hell is going on here? And don't give me some bullshit excuse this time, I want to know what you're doing to my body." My anger was bubbling under my skin as I tried to keep it under wraps. I wasn't as alone as I wanted to be for a conversation like this, but I needed answers.

The voice was quiet for several heartbeats before a cool breeze in my head told me it sighed.

 _'Recall when I told you I need high concentrations of aer to function?'_ I nodded _. 'Well, my presence acts as a sort of magnet for aer. On a typical day, you don't even notice the unusual influx of aer into your bloodstream. You've from accustomed to it."_

"But this aer is dense enough for me to see," I thought out loud, trying to put things together on my own. A quick glance told me that my traveling companions had yet to open the door. I turned my attention back to the voice.

 _'And regardless of density, I am still pulling aer from the atmosphere.'_ Another breezy sigh. _'It is overloading your body.'_

I moved to run my hands over my face before the green glow made me freeze. I watched as a floating glob of aer made its way over to my outstretched palm and shuddered as it made contact before sinking into my skin.

My hand flashed, and I pushed it quickly into my stomach. Nobody had seen.

 _'I will try explain this in greater depth later, child. In the meantime, do focus on staying upright, wont you?'_

"You'd better explain everything when I yell at you later, got it?" I bit out. I was exhausted Rita had finally gotten the door open, and I took a shaky step forward to join them. "I'm sick of being in the dark."

 _'You shall soon be in the light, my dear.'_

I ignored it and stood next to Yuri with all of the false confidence I could muster.

"We're going to see if the aer is less dense over there," he explained as we stepped across the threshold. "Hopefully you'll feel better on this side."

* * *

I did not feel better on this side.

There was a blastia up near the ceiling that Rita said had a similar formula to the ones at Ehmead Hill and Capua Nor, but this one was suspending water in the air? I stumbled into a pillar and tried to catch my breath as she tried to understand what was happening.

"I don't understand, even then, the aer shouldn't be nearly this dense!"

A throaty roar shook the entirety of the room we'd entered, and I finally took a look down at my feet. The glowing aer was still soldiering its way toward me. It was lackadaisical in its approach, like it knew that I couldn't escape. I batted a small sphere away from my face, but hissed when it only absorbed into the back of my hand.

I hadn't noticed before, but the ground was glowing the same shade as the aer and my hands. There was a glassy sheen to it, almost like we were standing on a window. I pushed gently off the pillar supporting me and peered toward the middle of the floor.

"M-monster!" Karol shrieked.

And there was one, trapped beneath the floor. The door we had walked through was apparently entrance to a balcony, and the ground below us housed a great beast. It looked almost like a turtle, but was closer in size to a house than a pet.

All I could do was stare.

"Take it easy," Yuri scolded Karol quickly, staggering slightly under the pressure of the aer. "You're not feeling well and there isn't much we can do right now if you hurt yourself."

"And that monster isn't going anywhere any time soon." Rita pointed up at the blastia. "That's a reverse barrier. It'll hold."

Yuri wasn't convinced. "I'm pretty sure it's gonna fail!"

 _'That blastia is preventing him from maintaining balance,_ ' the voice scoffed. ' _It's failure would be more fortuitous than any of you humans realize.'_

"Except that thing is pissed off about being held down." It proved my point with another roar that had the barrier flickering. "It's going to attack as soon as it gets clear."

The only response I got was that god-awful screeching in my mind that had happened back in Ragou's manor. I gasped as I lost control of my body and fell to the floor, hands clawing at my temples to try and get the noise _out_.

"Is!?"

"What's wrong with her? Oh my gosh, this is so bad!"

Between the noise in my head and the roaring of the beast below us, I could barely hear them.

Something warm trickled down from my ear, and I let out a strangled groan as the world carried on around me. I was aware of Delta standing protectively over my prone form, and I could make out bits and pieces of a conversation between Yuri and a voice I knew I recognized, but couldn't place.

I just squeezed my eyes closed tighter and begged for some sort of relief.

Another roar, more of a drawn out cry than the baritone rumble of the turtle-monster, joined the cacophony in my ears and I choked back a sob. I couldn't take this much longer.

 _"Release him, my brother."_

And then there was a crash.

And a flash of light so bright I could see it with my eyes closed.

And then all of the noises stopped.

Cautiously, I opened one eye. My forehead had ended up on the ground, and I was looking at grey stone. I noted absently that the barrier must be gone, if I could see the actual color of the stone. There was still that deep roaring and that warbling cry, but the static in my head had been reduced to a low hum.

I could handle that.

I pushed up slowly on to my elbows. Breathing wasn't as much of a challenge anymore, and the aer was once again invisible to normal sight. My hands had stopped glowing too. A startled laugh bubbled in my throat as I flopped back on to the floor, just happy to be alive.

"I'm gonna kill you, Dragon Freak!"

That had me up again pretty quick. In the time I'd been down, the Hunting Blades had shown up, weapons drawn and gauntlet thrown. They were busy hurling insults at the dragon rider, who was circling the high ceiling as water rained down from the rafters.

Tison, like the absolute freak of nature he was, scaled the wall and flipped onto the back of the dragon, choosing to fight at close range with the rider themselves. His guild mates followed his lead, leaving the other, _larger_ , problem to the rest of us.

Typical.

The thing, _'Gusios,'_ the voice provided helpfully, roared again, this time bringing some of the balcony crumbling down to floor by its feet. Naturally, the part of the floor that fell had been the part we'd been standing on. We went down, _hard_.

And Gusios was _not_ happy with us.

It – he? – rose to his hind legs and slammed them back into the earth, shaking the foundation and making Estelle stumble after she had already found her feet after falling the first time. Yuri was already up, sword drawn and scowl on his face. Rita pushed off a piece of concrete off of her legs, cursing at both the dragon rider and the monster in front of us and everything else she could think of.

Karol was nowhere to be seen.

Before I had a chance to really look for him under all of the rubble, Yuri attacked the thing, Repede and Delta snarling at his heels. I coughed a bit of dirt out of my lungs as I stumbled down the broken rock toward the floor. I hoped Karol wasn't stuck under there. If he was, the chances that he'd survived both the fall and the pressure were slim at best.

 _'The boy is fine, child.'_

Well. That was reassuring.

Estelle was suddenly very in my personal space, hands resting gently on my arm as I reached for my sword. She looked hesitant. "Isa, what do we do about that woman we heard?"

I pulled up short. "Estelle, what the hell are you talking about?"

"She said something about freeing her brother. Isa, what if her brother is in trouble? We have to help!"

I blinked. The voice had said that, I was almost positive. Had everybody heard it? There were a thousand questions flitting through my head, but all I could think to ask was: "You're sure it was a woman's voice?"

Estelle nodded.

A pleased hum filled my mind and I shook my head. I told Estelle we would find the siblings after we made sure Yuri didn't get crushed to a pulp. That seemed to placate her, and she took off, the formula for First Aide already forming beneath her.

"You could have told me you were a girl a long time ago, you know." I said casually as I pulled my sword from its sheath.

 _'Focus.'_

"Don't tell me what to do after your little leave of absence."

 _'Isadora.'_

"Vibrance!"

We would finish that conversation later.

The brunt of the attack hit the beast's tail just as it was about to smash into an unsuspecting Estelle, pushing the appendage away from the girl's head. It slammed to the ground a few feet to her left, and she was quick to scramble out of harm's way. She flashed a brilliant smile my way and drew her rapier from wherever the hell she kept it.

I danced my way in closer to Gusios, carefully dodging its flying fists and serpent's tail as I looked for an opening. Yuri and Repede were attacking on the font, keeping its wicked teeth and front set of legs occupied. Delta was keeping her distance, more keen on guarding Estelle than joining the fray. That left its backside to me.

The closer I got, the more I realized that Gusios was not a turtle. Not exactly. It had two stumpy front legs and a strong tail that made up about half of its ridiculous body length. Its back was covered in spikes that overlapped almost to form a protective shell, but also closely resembled a pincushion.

Turns out that this particular pincushion wasn't open to accepting any new accessories, and I had a difficult time finding a weak point in its armored back. That and his tail kept me on my toes, pushing me back whenever I got close enough to score a glancing blow.

"Hey, you knew its name, do you know anything else about this thing?" I called, sliding back a few feet under the weight of the beast's tail. I threw it off the flat edge of my blade and rolled my wrist. I wasn't getting anywhere with my normal attacks.

 _'He is weak to fire.'_ The voice sounded almost reluctant to share.

"Okay, great." A quick scan of the aer told me that that was, in fact, not great. "There's not a whole lot of fire based aer around here though. Got anything else?"

 _'He resists most every other element, save wind._ ' The information was coming more readily now, and I pulled as much wind-based aer into my blade as I could with a smirk. _'Weak points include the smaller hind legs and the neck.'_

I rolled under a swing from Gusios' tail as it rose to said hind legs, and slashed my charged sword at them. The aer shot forward and tore at the unprotected flesh. At the same time, Yuri had had slashed a deep cut on its exposed belly, and suddenly it was falling backwards.

"Oh, _fuck_ -"

I scrambled out of the way as quickly as I could, and only barely got clear before the dreaded giant crashed to the ground where I had just been standing. I sat in the dust, breathing heavily as it floundered, trying to right itself once more.

Huh. I take that back, he was a turtle after all.

We mirrored one another as we rose to our feet, and he let out a long wail. I winced as the voice shrieked shortly in response. There was another roar, almost in defiance, then the ground around me _exploded_.

For being thrown in the air, Yuri landed rather gracefully on his feet about thirty yards to my left. Estelle and Rita – I honestly didn't know when she joined the fight, but I suppose the random magic attacks made more sense now – were less apt, and landed in a heap behind him. Delta was whining somewhere off to my right, and I could see Repede in the distance.

And Gusios was _right above me._

I balked as he stared down at me with beady black eyes. He was breathing heavily through his nose, and the pieces of my braid that had fallen out whipped across my vision with every breath. It was like he was staring into my soul.

Faintly, I could hear Yuri and Rita shouting at me to _do_ something, but what was there to do? My sword wasn't up in any sort of defensive position, and in the time it would take me to even think about attacking, this thing would bite me in half. But the aer, what aer could help me right now?

Without looking away, I started gathering as much of the wind based aer that was on hand and channeled it toward my feet. If I could kick back far enough, I would have the space I needed to put up some sort of defense.

But Gusios' mouth was open and _glowing_ , and I was out of _time_ and –

 _'No!'_

I couldn't tell who she was talking to, but Gusios and I both froze dead in our tracks, gazes still locked. His eyes looked just as confused as I felt, and it seemed as though we were both holding our breaths, waiting for something to happen.

And then he closed his eyes, bowed his head, and leaned forward. Waiting.

For the second time, all l I could do was stare at him.

 _'It is polite to bow in return, Isadora,'_ the voice chastised. ' _Gusios will not harm you at this time. Go, touch foreheads.'_

In a sort of daze, I complied. As soon as my head made contact with his, there was a deep, booming sort of laughter in my mind, not at all like the tinkling laugh of my usual companion.

 _'Thank you, human,'_ a new voice rumbled, ' _but leave this place at once. Do not return.'_

Gusios stepped back, severing the connection. A strand of white hot light kept our minds connected for a brief moment more before snapping and fading up into the atmosphere. He blinked, still awaiting a response, and all I could do was nod dumbly.

Satisfied, he turned and stomped away down a corridor that I hadn't even seen before.

When I turned toward where I had last seen Yuri and the others, I was greeted by the same look of shock on each of their faces. Well, not Yuri's. He was too composed to look surprised for very long, and he had a single eyebrow raised instead.

"Make a new friend, Scout?"

"Shut it, Lowell." I really didn't want to talk about what had just happened. I don't think I could take the inevitable questions, and I honestly wouldn't be able to answer them. I was asking the same ones.

Sparing a glance at the ceiling to get my mind off the past few minutes, I saw the tail end of the dragon rider disappearing through the hole they'd entered through. The Hunting Blades were nowhere in sight. It was probably for the best; the whole ceiling was crumbling, about to fall.

"We have to get out of here or we're going to be buried under two tons of ceiling when it decides to stop being the ceiling. Have we found Karol yet?" The kid was still unaccounted for, and something churned in my stomach at the thought of leaving him to die here.

But we were running through the building – what the hell even was this place? – still down one person. All we could do at this point was hope that he had made it out and was waiting for us somewhere in the rest of Caer Bocram.

Lucky bastard was sitting on a rock, looking sadly at his shoes as we neared what had once likely been the city's main plaza. Nan, the guild girl, was standing nearby, hands on hips and a holier-than-thou look plastered on her face.

The girls made it to him first, spurred on by concern and anger, and managed to chase Nan away before even reaching Karol. Estelle immediately had her arms around him, going on and on about how worried she had been, but Rita looked about ready to punch his lights out. She called him a coward, but simmered down when she admitted that she was glad that he was safe, at least.

An easy smile was resting on Yuri's lips when he reached out to put his hand on Karol's head. "Hey, you made it out in one piece and that's what matters."

Delta huffed up at me, and I made a face back at her. I was gald he was alright, but the while open display of affection thing didn't really suit me. I settled for an honest grin and a simple nod.

Karol looked like he wanted to cry.

"You guys…"

Rita changed the subject before the feelings jam could start in earnest, bless her cold little heart. "Man, we were way off. The Blood Alliance isn't anywhere around here!"

"Yeah, we'll have to be a bit more careful about where we get our information from next time," Yuri mused. "Let's get out of here. It might have gone easy on Scout, but I don't want to be around if that monster decides to get angry again and stomp around town."

I scoffed. I could feel every bump and cut and bruise form our brief encounter and lamented the fact that I would be stiff and sore come morning. I was absolutely exhausted. Gusios had _not_ taken it easy.

I was still simmering when Delta froze and started growling in harmony with Repede. Both animals were low to the ground, ears back, and teeth bared. Yuri and I shared a quick look as a group of knights rounded the bend in the path ahead.

"Ah, the common rabble. I've finally found you. That's far enough."

 _That_ was a slippery voice if I ever heard one. The speaker was wearing the strangest armor I had ever seen allowed in the Imperial Knights and had this awful lavender colored hair. I had to fight to keep a straight face, because this was not the right time. Funny looking or not, he wore the insignia of Captain, and I'd been brought up to respect authority.

But I really wanted to comment on his looks because _damn_.

"You must have had a lot of time on your hands if you crossed the ocean just to see us, Cumore" came Yuri's cool response. He'd made his way to the front of our little group and stood with on hand on his hip, mocking the knights in his typical fashion.

"Do not address me, commoner filth," the man spat back.

That's it. What little respect I had for him was gone.

Something in my stance must have shifted, because I got a nudge from Delta and a sharp jab from the voice. I rolled my eyes at both of them.

"Now, this way, Princess."

Oh, this is going to be interesting, isn't it.

"Wait," Karol, the sweet, slow boy that he is, turned to Yuri and I. "What does he mean by 'princess'?"

Considering the fact that Estelle had taken three huge steps backward at the mention of the word, I don't know how he didn't catch on.

Yuri sighed, taking the lead. "He means the princess standing right in front of us."

"Yuri? But how..?" Estelle was shocked, and hand her hands by her mouth in a display of nerves.

Karol didn't give him a chance to explain himself, instead cutting in with his disbelief. He was convinced that we were all playing some kind of trick on him.

"Come on, kid," I tried to say under my breath. Of course, our resident princess heard and whirled on me.

"Isa, you knew?"

"Well, yeah." I cocked my head to the side, brow furrowing a bit. "Did you think the recurring babysitting comment was a joke?"

"I suspected as much myself." Sure you did, Rita.

"Princess," drawled the captain, "there are people waiting on you and I haven't got all night."

Estelle looked down, face contorted in pain as she weighed her options. Hesitantly, she took a few steps forward before squaring her shoulders and looking the man in the eye.

"And what will become of my friends if I go with you?"

He flashed a wicked grin. "Why, they'll be drawn and quartered for abducting a member of the royal family, of course."

I blinked. That was a bit harsh, even if we did kidnap her. Which, unless the definition of kidnapping had changed, I was fairly confident that we didn't. Unless Yuri did initially, but when Estelle told the story she made it seem like she left the capitol of her own volition.

When she tried to explain this, Cumore cut her off by reaching out to grab hold of her arm.

"What a mouthy young lady you are," he sneered, pulling her close. "I must insist that you come this way."

"Hey, let go of her you jerks!" There was a pull in the aer as Rita started to cast some sort of spell, and I sighed, suddenly bone weary and tired. The last of my adrenaline had finally worn off, and I was essentially dead on my feet.

I was in a daze for the next few moments. I couldn't tell if the captain had released our friend or if Rita had cast her spell. I vaguely heard shouting and the arrival of what I assumed were more knights, but my eyes wouldn't focus.

A light touch at my arm had me blinking slowly, trying to bring some reason back to the mass of shapes that had filled my vision.

"Oh man, Is." Karol. "Your eyes are bleeding again! What do we do? Yuri, what do we do?"

 _'Curious.'_

"Not exactly what I wanted to hear," I murmured, responding to both. I rubbed at my face and my hands came away a red blob. Was that why I couldn't see straight?

Delta wove between my legs, purring deeply to try and comfort me. I reached down to pat her head. I wasn't as worried as I probably should have been, but I was just so _tired_. I would deal with all of this, but first I wanted to sleep for a few days straight.

"This way, princess. Please watch your step." That was Leblanc's voice. Apparently the knights I'd heard were the Schwann Brigade. Lovely. But if they were escorting Estelle, that meant the other captain was gone.

So far, so good. Maybe this encounter wouldn't end with Leblanc's determination to catch Yuri landing us all behind bars.

"Sir Schwann, we will escort these undesirables to Heliord!"

Apparently Karol was the only one actually worried about me and this recurring re problem of mine. There came the sound of chains – really, chains? – and the hiss of steel, and we were suddenly being marched in a line toward a city I'd never been to.

 _'I must insist that you stop jinxing yourself, child.'_

* * *

 _-Han_


	9. Chapter 9

I don't know if you guys catch it, but I do post updates on my profile every couple of days just to keep y'all in the loop with where I am in life and where I am with the current chapter. So if anyone gets curious as to why it's taking so long, feel free to check in there!

That said, sorry this took so long. I've been in and out of the hospital for a while and life was hard. But here we are! We did it! Yay!

Thanks to _CallmeCrazylol, SaRan1999_ , and _Dictator-Chan_ for reviewing! I love hearing from you!

* * *

I woke with a start to the sound of laughter. I eased my hand away from the hilt of my sword as my senses came crawling back to me and I remembered what was happening.

We were in Heliord. We'd been escorted here by the Schwann brigade, then led to the coziest little interrogation room I had ever seen. Two couches bordered a coffee table, and the knights were quick to take the one closest to the door and start organizing their paperwork. That left the other couch to us.

Since when did the empire allow their prisoners the luxuries of a couch?

Not that I'd complained, I was exhausted. I'd let Rita and Karol sit down first so I wouldn't have to listen to them whine if they didn't get a seat. Yuri didn't have a choice but to sit front and center while the knights read out the charges being brought against him, and he hadn't looked too thrilled to be framed by the kids.

I'd leaned up against the side Karol was hanging off of and had fallen asleep pretty soon after the short one, Adecor, began reading the particulars of Yuri's first crime.

My twitchiness caused Delta to stir slightly on my lap, opening one lazy yellow eye to scold me before continuing to doze. I flicked her nose.

"Yuri, did you really throw this guy out of a window?" Karol was laughing nervously as he spoke, and I realized that he was the one who had woken me up.

"If that's what the report says, then I guess it must be true," came the flippant reply. I could hear the grin in his voice and sighed as the two knights raised their voices in annoyance. All I wanted was some peace and quiet so I could sleep.

I tried my best to tune out their conversation and play with Delta's fur, but a comment about the brigade's captain had my attention back on the others again.

Leblanc was seething about something. "Sir Schwann is a legendary hero and a veteran of the Great War. He deserves your respect!"

"You know," I mused, "when I think of that war, 'Schwann' isn't the first name I think of."

The conversation died abruptly, and I could feel everybody's eyes on me. I turned to meet the shocked gazes of the three knights and shrugged. It was the truth. The war had yielded a number of legends, but this was one I'd yet to hear. And if I hadn't heard it, it probably wasn't true.

"In fact, I don't think I've heard that name at all. Are you sure we're talking about the same Great War?"

Ooh, the A and B lackeys did not like that. They were immediately up in arms, clamoring over each other to yell back at my snide remark.

"Quiet, I say! Do not speak of what you do not understand!"

"You were a child, what do you know of the war?"

I felt my eye twitch. What did _I_ know of the war? Probably more than these three bozos combined.

"Silence!" Leblanc bellowed, and his subordinates shut up, looking very small as they huddled close to one another in the far corner of their couch. "What is your name, girl?"

I rose slowly to my feet, expression blank as I drew up to my full height. Delta rose with me, teeth bared in a silent snarl. "My name is Isadora Harroway." I smirked at the way all three knights paled at our display. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"

Of course, they were saved from their embarrassment by the opening of the door. I raised an eyebrow at the three who had just walked in, then glanced back at the three knights from the Schwann Brigade before sighing harshly. Leblanc and his men were ramrod straight, right arms raised across their chests in the formal military salute.

"Your Excellency Commandant Alexei!"

I heard Karol breathe in sharply at Leblanc's greeting and eyed the leader of the Imperial Knights more closely. He was tall, with silver hair and sharp, piercing red eyes. The urge to fidget increased as those eyes met mine, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself level. I watched, wary, as they finally flicked over to his subordinates in annoyance.

Based on reputation alone, Alexei was somebody I would prefer to stay very far away from, but the fact that his eyes were red made me want to run in the opposite direction. As a rule, I didn't trust people with red eyes.

' _You're tense, Isadora. Do try to relax. Things will work themselves out.'_

The Commandant went on to address the Schwann Brigade, and I took the chance to take in the two women that had entered the room with us before we were dragged off to jail.

The more striking of the two was a krityan with long, light blue feathery antennae things. She stood confidently with her hands behind her back, not actually looking at any of us, but providing another authority figure to enforce whatever decision Alexei was here to announce.

The voice started to vibrate in the back of my mind, almost as if she was agitated about something. I did my best to tune her out.

The other was a small human woman who looked as though there were a dozen other places she would rather be. Arms crossed tightly across her chest, her foot was tapping and she kept stealing glances back at the door. She tossed her hair – a mixture of shades brown and red similar to my own - over her shoulder impatiently and cleared her throat to get Alexei's attention.

He turned, a single eyebrow raised patiently. She gestured _im_ patiently for him to get on with what it was he was going to say, and he smiled almost fondly at the woman. He steeled a bit when his focus came back to us and he zeroed in on Yuri, who was still sitting casually on the couch, unimpressed by the power of the man before us.

I tried to keep my face neutral for the inevitable news that we were getting shipped back to Zaphias to stand trial or, if Cumore got his wish, to be executed.

"On behalf of the Imperial family, I hereby pardon you of all crimes committed against the Empire. You all are free to go."

' _Well that was unexpected.'_

"I thought you were supposed to be an optimist," I hissed as the room exploded into another argument. "You told me that everything would be fine like three minutes ago."

' _And I was not wrong,'_ she responded haughtily. _'Though I prefer the term 'realist.' I find optimists to be a bit unreasonable.'_

I almost opened my mouth to retaliate, but sat down hard on the arm of the couch and rubbed at my temples instead. I didn't have the energy to argue with the voice right now, especially when I had no substantial ground to stand on.

It had been such a long day.

"And what of Estelle?" I peeked out from under my hands at Yuri, who was staring stonily at the Commandant, waiting for an answer.

Alexei and his entourage were already turned to leave, but he turned his head enough to peer at Yuri out of the corner of his eye. He didn't blink, nor did he hesitate when he told him that she had given her consent to be returned to the capitol city.

Something about the way he worded his response struck me as odd, and I bit my lip to keep from speaking out. His use of the word consent and the monotonous tone of his voice made my skin crawl.

"Isadora." Wait what? The human woman was smiling at me. A glance toward the others told me they were arguing once again with the Schwann Brigade, which left this conversation to me. Joy. "We would like to extend an invitation for you to return to Zaphias as well. We've heard a great deal of wonderful things about your abilities, and are ready to put those talents to use."

A low growl came from deep within Delta's chest, reminding me that I wasn't truly alone, but it only served to put me more on edge than ease my mind. The continuous growl was soft enough to miss if one wasn't accustomed to it. A warning. But what for?

The woman was talking again.

"I'm sure we can find a place for you once you are ready to stop traipsing about the continent with these… people." She sneered the last bit, gesturing to my companions, and I couldn't stop the sass that slipped past my filter.

"I don't know," I drawled, playing with a piece of hair that had come loose from my braid. "I might traipse for a bit longer. These guys are like children, can't let them out of my sight for more than three minutes."

"You play mother for these criminals?"

I blinked, a bit taken aback by her cruel, judgmental look and filed away my usual babysitter comment for later. "I'm sorry, I was under the impression that all of their crimes were pardoned. Commandant?"

Alexei sighed, more to himself than anything, and nodded. "Their Highnesses Estillese and Ioder did so personally."

The krytian cut in, speaking in a soft voice to address the rest of the room as well. "The Princess is waiting at the inn. We would all be pleased if you'd make an appearance."

Yuri, acting as the leader of this little band of misfits, made a noncommittal noise and started studying one of the horrible paintings on the wall.

The three finally left our cozy little interrogation room, though not before the other woman tried to sell me on the capitol one last time. "Think on it, yes?"

I raised up a hand and waved her off. "Whatever it is you're offering, I'm not interested."

"I should have expected such poor judgment from a Harroway," came the scathing last word. With that, she then stalked through the door Alexei was holding open for her and disappeared into the night.

The remainder of the Schwann Brigade packed up their mountain of worthless paperwork regarding Yuri and followed shortly after. The door slammed shut behind them, and everybody seemed to let out the breath that they had been holding.

The silence in the room grew louder in the moments after they left until it was suffocating. I reached for Delta, trying to calm her down as much as I was trying to calm myself. She was still agitated, though I couldn't figure out why. The voice didn't have anything to say either, instead staying blissfully quiet in the back of my mind.

"Oh man, I thought we were going to jail for sure!" Karol exploded, breathing life back in to the dead air. He flopped back onto the couch with a dramatic sigh and rubbed at his eyes. "I don't know what I'd do if they locked me up."

"You wouldn't do anything, idiot," Rita bit back. She was doing a better job of hiding it, but she was just as nervous as Karol was about the whole situation. "You'd be in jail and all you'd do is stare at the bars."

Yuri decided he'd had enough and stepped in, both literally and with words. He made his way toward the door as he spoke, telling the kids to stop talking about jail. "Its bad luck, you know."

"And you're full of enough bad luck for all of us combined." Rita was able to gracefully exit that conversation with a beautifully crafted underhand comment and I tried not to scoff out loud. I knew there was a reason I liked this girl.

Yuri sighed softly to himself and shook his head. "It's not my fault, I was just born under a really unlucky star. Anyway, let's head to the inn. It's been a long day."

He tossed a glance over his shoulder at me when he said that, but I refused to meet his eyes. He would give no sympathy for what'd I'd gone through in the night because I had decided to run off on my own again. He was probably disappointed in me, and people tended to carry their disappointment in their eyes. I didn't want to see that.

Delta nosed at my cheek. I pushed her away with a forced smile as Karol and Rita followed on Repede's heels.

 _'You should go as well, child. He was not wrong to say it has been a long day.'_

"I didn't say he was wrong," I grumbled as I rose, "but I won't do something just because he tells me to. I don't belong to him."

I held the door open for Delta and followed her into the cool night air. The sky was beginning to lighten along the edge of the horizon, little patches of bright blue dotting the darkness. Dawn was almost here and I was still awake. Wonderful.

"I'm going back to Halure as soon as we find this thief for Yuri," I said through a yawn. "I miss my bed."

' _You used to sleep in trees and fields without complaint.'_

"That was a long time ago."

' _That was hardly three years ago.'_

"Okay, but you've felt my bed, right?" I stayed back from the rest of the group as we walked past a weird modern art sculpture in the center of town, mostly because I didn't want them hearing me talk to myself. A small part of me was still debating turning around and going home, but I was exhausted and there _was_ an ocean between here and there.

I glided silently into the lobby of the inn.

The voice paused before sounding resigned. _'Touché.'_

Karol and Rita were arguing again – honestly, did they do anything else? – as Yuri talked to the man behind the front desk about getting a room. Delta sat down on my left foot and entered a stare-down with Repede. The dog eventually tossed his head and turned to bother Rita, distracting her from her conversation.

I was torn between disliking the dog out of spite and thanking him for shutting the two kids up. They were so _loud_ , and doing nothing to help the headache that had been building in the base of my skull.

I settled for just ignoring him.

"Oh, you're still here?" I turned, eyebrow raised, to face Yuri. Where did he think I'd gone? "I figured you'd run off by now."

Ouch. That was passive aggressive and actually stung a little bit. I held my tongue from lashing out, though. The underlying accusation was spot on, and I didn't have the energy to talk my way out. I had gone exploring in Caer Bocram, disappearing again even though I knew that it wouldn't go over well.

I'd made a choice, and now I had to face the consequences.

But holy hell, couldn't this wait until after a few hours of sleep?

Nope. Apparently not. Yuri was waiting for a response. I sighed and rubbed at my eyes. "I don't know what you want me to say."

The voice scoffed.

I shrugged. I honestly didn't know what he expected from me.

"Is." What, no nickname? This would be an appropriate time for it, I think. "I know you're trying to be helpful, and I can appreciate that, but –"

"But you don't actually appreciate it." I knew where this was going and had zero patience for the way he was trying to skirt around the topic. "I told you before, if you don't want me around, just say so. If Estelle is here, Flynn's probably around here too. Go tell him you fired me, have him find you a new babysitter."

The swordsman looked exasperated. "I didn't say that."

"But you were going to. Look, I'll be out of your hair by morning."

' _Isadora.'_ She sounded almost sad.

"Would you stop and listen to me?" He reached out to grab my shoulder, but a low, protective growl from Delta had him snatching his hand back. Instead, he ran it through his hair and let out a frustrated breath.

He'd only just opened his mouth to try again when a loud noise sounded from nearby, shaking the foundation of the building.

' _I do love a good distraction to derail a difficult conversation,'_ came a groan from the corner of my mind. Yuri was gone, prioritizing the bigger problem and following Rita out of the lobby. I'd caught the tail end of a conversation with the innkeeper about the city's blastia acting up, and the resident mage had vanished before the man had finished explaining.

"I know you're being sarcastic right now," I said through a smirk as Karol started freaking out, "but I second that sentiment, no sarcasm included."

"Is, Is, what do we do?" Karol was suddenly attached to my arm. He'd caught the end of my braid in his scramble for my sleeve, drawing my head down to his level in one sharp movement.

I blinked into his scared face. Kid had pretty eyes. "The first thing we do," I said calmly, "is let go of Isadora before she smacks you." He dropped my arm like I had burned him. "The second thing we do is go outside and see what's happening."

' _Hopefully this was nothing too serious.'_

"Yeah, yeah okay." Karol was trying so hard to calm down. He shook his hands out and took a few deep breaths before a switch flipped and he became the poster child for collected and composed. "Let's go Is!"

I let him go first to avoid his flailing limbs and stared long and hard at the ceiling. "Please," I sighed, "if anybody or anything is up there listening, let this be fast so I can go to sleep before the sun comes up."

' _Do you think that will work?'_

"Probably not," I said around a manic laugh. "But I legitimately have nothing to lose, so it can't hurt to try."

' _Interesting.'_

"Hey, if you have any say in what the universe does, help me out will you?"

She hummed, but didn't otherwise reply. I pushed through the door with my shoulder, hopeful that the sun would still be below the horizon and that the sound wasn't actually the blastia malfunctioning.

So when I had to squint through sunlight to see Rita standing by the weird sculpture thing with a formula screen open – because of course that thing was the barrier blastia – I was less than pleased.

I sighed and glared at the rising sun. "The universe hates me and you suck."

' _Not my fault, child.'_

I really tried to pay attention to the shouting match that Rita instigated with Flynn's mage Witcher, I really did, but I honestly couldn't hear them. They were far away and there was a ledge along the path away from the inn, and I was too tired to be concerned with what is and is not a chair. And I like ledges.

So I sat on the ledge and watched.

Witcher reached over to turn off the formula screen then shooed the young mage away from the structure, gesturing back at one of the buildings on the other side of the city. Rita crossed her arms and pouted rather harshly, but backed off a moment later.

Estelle came running up from who knows where, Liam trailing after her looking about as tired as I felt. Which was to say he looked like death. The bags under his eyes were dark enough that I could see them all the way from where I was sitting, and his usually well-kept brown hair was sticking up in every direction.

Estelle probably played peacemaker between the little mages, and the group started slowly making its way toward me. More likely, they were heading for the inn, but it made me feel important to think they were coming to talk to me. Though I was too tired to hold up a conversation at this point, so I don't know what I was thinking, wanting them near me.

Why was I still out here again?

' _Because you care,_ ' the voice sang.

"Lies and slander," I shot back, ready to leave my perch for the comfort of a bed.

"Good morning, Isa!"

I sort of grunted back at Estelle's greeting, afraid that if I opened my mouth I'd say something offensive and have to verbally fence with her to repair the damage I'd done. It was marginally safer to just wave and make an honest effort to smile.

The expressions that flashed across her face told me I did a shoddy job with the smile.

Liam disappeared once we were back in the inn's lobby, but showed up again a few minutes later with Flynn in tow. Yuri immediately struck up an interrogation about the city's barrier blastia making such strange and loud noises. Flynn looked ready to kill someone, but was doing his best to be patient with his old friend.

"Wait, you made me run around trying to find this guy to tell him that the blastia's making noises?" Ooh, Liam was pissed off. "Dude, we've known this. That's the whole reason we're this far from the capitol."

"That's enough, Liam," Flynn scolded.

"I mean, even the head of the Commandant's Blastia Technology Research Division is here looking into the issue. I literally think you people are the only ones to _not_ know that it makes noises." He ran his hand through his hair. "Man, I hate you guys."

"I _said_ enough, Liam." That sounded more like an order than the previous telling off, and Liam knew it. He simmered down, but was still stewing silently to himself as his fellow knight continued. "It would seem that Yuri just can't leave well enough alone."

Yuri immediately gestured to Rita. "Hey, it's not me! I don't even care –"

"Look here, mister knight," Rita cut in, hands on hips. "It's obvious that something isn't right with the blastia. You have to let me look at it!"

"The blastia is in a state of repair," he tried to explain. "Miss Genevieve is a brilliant researcher and arrived several days ago and has been working hard to solve the problem. She and her team will begin repairs for the day soon. While I appreciate the offer, I cannot allow you to interfere with the work they have done so far."

I twitched at the name. Karol caught the jerky movement and turned, question already visible on his tongue, but I silenced him with a sharp glare. He folded in on himself and moved closer to Yuri.

"I don't believe this! Something isn't right here no you know it!" Rita was adamant.

"We were told that while the repairs are underway, there may be random tremors as the blastia learns to accept the new formula."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"We were assured that they were normal for a blastia of this size."

In an excellent display of both timing and spite, another vibration shook the building, this one bigger than the last. The lights flickered and the air grew tense.

Yuri turned to Flynn, eyes blazing in the dimming light. "Is that normal too?"

"Please tell me that wasn't the blastia," groaned Liam from his dark little corner of the room. "I haven't slept in forever, I don't wanna deal with this right now."

Rita bolted for the door, Repede and Estelle right on her heels. Flynn and Yuri followed shortly after, Karol lagging behind again.

"I hate my job."

I turned to a dejected Liam with an overly dramatic sigh. "That's what you get for choosing to become a dog of the empire."

"Shut up, Izzy. I'm tired."

"Yeah, well, join the club. And if I don't get to bitch, neither do you."

"No faair," he grumbled, walking forward to rest his forehead on my shoulder. "This wasn't in my job description."

I rolled my eyes and slowly started to push him off of me. "And playing mom for a bunch of perfectly capable adults wasn't in mine, so I guess we're both going to have to suck it up, now won't we?"

"What? I thought watching them was _exactly_ what Flynn asked you to do. Hey, Izzy come on, wait for me!"

I let the door slam in his face with a smirk.

"Rita, stop!" The sudden shout out had me on high alert, and I started toward the blastia. I pushed past Karol and Estelle to see that Yuri had caught our little mage and was holding her back by the collar of her shirt as she struggled to get closer to the rig. "Look at how dense this aer is, it's too dangerous."

"I cant just leave him like this, and you saw what happened to Isadora! If this continues the density might actually kill her this time!"

I took a half step back. I was still far enough away that I couldn't really feel the effects yet, but the more I saw pour out of the blastia, the more wary I got. The pressure in my head was building slowly. Rita had a point.

"And what about you?" Then again, so did Yuri.

"I have to _try_."

Another huge vibration knocked the two apart, Yuri flailing backwards in an attempt to catch his balance. Rita stumbled as well, but continued on toward the blastia. Yuri growled, but the pressure of the aer must have been too great for him, and he retreated a few paces to stand by me.

There was a heavy hand on my wrist. "Stay here."

I scoffed at his action, pulling my hand back and cradling it to my chest. "I'm not actively trying to die, you know."

"Is…" he sighed, suddenly sounding much more tired than before. Whatever he was about to say got lost in the cacophony of clashing armor as a group of knights approached.

"Lead the civilians out of the city, as well as the Princess and the others," came an order from the Commandant. Flynn and Liam snapped to attention before scrambling out of the way to comply.

"Oh, the aer is completely out of control. Who knows what it will do like this!" That was the woman from before. Her hand was almost covering her mouth as she studied the blastia, worry flashing quickly across her expression.

"Genevieve."

"Yes, Alexei?"

"Fix this."

With a sharp nod, the woman was gone.

The Commandant and his other aide vanished as well, most likely to help with the evacuation process. The rest of the world was silent, holding its breath as the two mages worked.

They appeared to work well together, one in front of the formula screen and the other in front of a diagnostic screen spouting advice and suggestions. Every so often they would switch places and try something new.

But the aer continued to pour.

 _'At this rate, the entire contraption might explode.'_

"Alright, how did I ever think that you were an optimist."

 _'Or it could swallow the city whole.'_

"See, now you're leaning toward pessimist. Make up your mind, please."

She hushed me, directing my attention back to the situation at hand.

Just as I turned, the blastia started glowing a brilliant white before letting loose a final shockwave that knocked _everybody_ to the ground. I picked myself up slowly, body too exhausted to move quickly. There were murmurs from the crowd that had gathered around the little plaza.

"What happened?"

"Is she okay?"

"Is it safe?"

' _It is safe now,'_ the voice confirmed, barely a whisper in the silence. ' _They succeeded in altering the formula on its most basic level – a process that appears to have been in the works for some time now. The blastia is now stable.'_

"Oh, Rita!"

My tired eyes followed after Estelle as she sprinted toward the younger girl who lay unmoving on the stone at the blastia's base. My mind might have been playing tricks on me, but the princess was glowing faintly as she ran, and not in the normal, I'm-gathering-aer way.

I blinked hard twice and the glow died.

The rest of the group was kneeling by Rita in the next moment, and Estelle was casting First Aid in an attempt to wake her. Her eyes didn't open, but a small sigh pushed its way past her lips, which was enough to satisfy everyone.

"Hey lady, what happened?" Karol asked the other woman. She still had the formula screen open and was studying it carefully. She barely reacted to being addressed, just waved a hand at the boy.

"It should be alright now. My team was supposed to put in stabilizers when they finished last night, but apparently _someone_ forgot." A wolfish grin split her features and her eyes flashed dangerously. "It looks like I'll have to talk to my subordinates about procedure."

I did _not_ want to be in the room for that conversation.

"And what of Rita?" Yuri asked lowly. "Will she be alright?"

"Hmm? Oh, the little mage?" The woman, who I assumed was Genevieve at this point, finally face our little group. Her face melted into a sweet smile that sent a shiver down my spine. "She'll be alright, just tired from the exposure to such a large quantity of aer at high density. Brilliant worker, really knows her way around complex formulas."

"But she'll be alright," Estelle breathed in a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad."

"Then let's get her back to the inn, she needs to rest." Yuri blinked as the sunlight caught him in the face, then grimaced. "We all do."

* * *

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but Is sort of has a thing for eyes.

 _-Han_


	10. Chapter 10

A (really) short little chapter for you lovely people while I try to get situated with being back in school.

Thanks to _CallmeCrazylol, Blue-Black Flames_ , and _SaRan1999_ for reviewing, and to _SilverNeira_ for being a cool person and choosing to follow the adventures of my dumb, reckless child! Welcome, friend!

* * *

It was the wind that woke me this time, rather than Karol's soft laughter. I blinked groggily in the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the open doors that led to an unnecessarily huge balcony. The entire room we'd been taken to was extravagant and ridiculously posh. Perks of being friends with the princess, I suppose.

I was still sore, muscles aching as I tried to sit up. Delta was asleep on my legs, hindering my progress and I kicked her off with a groan. She growled softly in response as she left the bed to pad toward the balcony. I blew a raspberry back at her.

My upper back cracked when I pushed my shoulder blades together, then stretched my arms above my head. I blew a stray strand of hair out of my face and tried to blink some of the sleep from my eyes. When my vision just blurred further, I fell back into the mountain of pillows in defeat.

I wondered, fleetingly, if anybody would notice if I just left right now. I could sneak out the door and start for Capua Torim, catch a ship back to the Ilyccian continent and make my way back home. I could be back in Halure within the week.

I wonder if anybody would care.

I bit back a yawn as I pushed myself back into a sitting position and glanced around. Karol was who knows where, the bed he'd slept in messy, sheet and pillow in a heap on the floor. Honestly, that boy had a tendency to disappear just as quickly as I did. Why was I the only one to get scolded?

Yuri was breathing lightly, still asleep on the bed to my left. His sword was clenched loosely in his left hand, and Repede was asleep on the floor at the foot of the bed.

I squinted, looking back at the doors to the balcony where Delta was sleeping in the afternoon sunlight. I don't think I had been asleep for very long, given how tired I still was, but I could also tell that it had been several hours since we'd been escorted here.

Why was Yuri still asleep?

I finally got my eyes to focus on the last of the beds in the room and sighed deeply when I saw Estelle in a chair, hunched over Rita's bed, both girls sound asleep. Of _course_ she hadn't woken Yuri for his shift.

Estelle had insisted on a watch cycle to keep track of Rita's progress through the night – morning? Whatever – which was completely unnecessary. Rita would be fine, both the healers on staff in Heliord and Alexei's head blastia researcher said so.

The princess had also insisted on taking the first watch. Given how convincing she could get and how absolutely fucking _exhausted_ I was, I didn't put up much of a fight. Yuri, bless his sarcastic little heart, offered to take over after a few hours. I'd waited for everyone to get settled before I passed out on one of the four beds.

' _In hindsight, we should have seen this coming.'_

"Well, yeah," I huffed as I struggled to disentangle my legs from the sheets. "It's Estelle."

I reached for the girl's shoulder to wake her gently, but paused when I got close. If I wanted to leave, now would be the best time. Everyone was asleep, and I wasn't technically responsible for watching Rita. Nobody would notice.

Something in my chest tightened. I couldn't leave Estelle like this. The disappointment I'd come to accept in Yuri's eyes had nothing on the betrayal that would be in Estelle's. For some reason, I don't think I could take that.

I shook the princess awake.

She'd only barely opened her eyes when the aer shifted and a First Aid was cast on the still sleeping mage. I took hold of her upper arms and lifted her from the chair she'd fallen asleep in with a scowl.

"What the hell, aren't you exhausted?" I studied her face as I pushed her onto my bed. She had dark circles under her eyes and a weary smile on her lips. "You're going to burn yourself out if you keep that up. Were you healing her all night?"

She held her head high, but meet my eyes or answer my question. I sighed. Even the aer around her looked tired. It moved sluggishly as it tried to escape her pull, and I noted absently that it wasn't her bodhi blastia that was drawing it in, but rather her body itself.

A low hum filled my mind and I wondered if the aer around me did something similar.

But what did that _mean_? Maybe Estelle and I were more alike than I thought.

' _One problem at a time, child.'_

I narrowed my eyes. It would seem that the voice and I needed to talk. I hadn't forgotten about Caer Bocram, but we hadn't had the time nor the privacy to discuss what the hell had happened to my body.

I rubbed my forehead and sighed. "Look, just do us a favor and sleep in a bed so nobody gets mad at you for staying up when we agreed we'd switch off."

It was pointless to argue with Estelle, and I honestly hoped that she would just drop it. I didn't have the energy to actually force her into the bed.

Of course, it wasn't that easy.

Estelle fussed over Rita as I took a seat in the chair at her bedside. I stared up at the design on the ceiling and resigned myself to counting the tiles as the girl did as she pleased.

"I envy Rita," came a sigh when I neared seventy.

I blinked at Estelle, then flicked over to Rita's still form. "You're allowed to sleep too, you know. In fact, you were supposed to wake Yuri up a while ago, weren't you?" I tried to guilt her in to shutting up and sliding into bed, but no dice.

The princess giggled behind a hand, but shook her head. "That's not what I meant, Isa. She threw herself into the aer to save that blastia, even though it could have really hurt her."

"You envy her reckless nature?" I wasn't following her line of logic.

"She has a goal. She has something that motivates her, and I envy that."

Oh. That made more sense. Estelle sighed, and smoothed down the mage's blanket again before looking longingly at the balcony. I followed her gaze and fought the urge to laugh.

"I'm pretty sure you have a goal too, Estelle." I did laugh at the look of surprise that flitted across her face. "You want to see the world, don't you? To learn as much about it as you can?"

Yuri had told everyone as much during one of the quieter traveling days. At the time, I'd scoffed at the naivety of the notion, but now I was glad that I'd paid attention.

She nodded, suddenly more sure of herself. "I don't want to inherit the Empire if I don't know anything of the people and places inside of it." One of her hands balled into a fist. "And I want to help people. I want to make them smile."

I leaned back as her confidence grew, arms crossed and content with my one good deed for the day.

"What about you, Isa?"

I almost fell out of the chair at the change in direction the conversation had taken. Why was everyone in this group so in to feelings jams?

"Hmm? What about me?" I hoped she'd catch my tone and drop the subject, but she turned, green eyes bright, and took one of my hands in hers.

"What are you traveling for?"

A sassy remark that would end the conversation died on my lips when I saw how innocent she looked. She was genuinely curious, and I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

So, I thought. Why _was_ I traveling?

 _'May I suggest thinking out loud?'_

"I don't know."

I also don't know who that response was for.

Estelle took it personally, and sat back a little, confused. "There has to be a reason you're still with us though, right?"

I shrugged. "I told Flynn I'd stay until we caught up to him, which we have. Twice. I told Yuri I'd stay until he caught his thief, but he's pissed off that I disappeared in Caer Bocram without permission, so who knows if he actually still wants me around." I pushed through the sinking feeling in my chest and vocalized what I had been thinking before I woke her. "I'll actually probably head back to Halure when you leave for the capitol."

She looked absolutely appalled. "But you can't just leave! There's still so much to do! You can't leave things half finished, you have to see them through until the end!"

I fought against the urge to scoff. "I get that you're upset about having to go back to Zaphias, but just because other people are telling you how to live your life doesn't give you the right to tell me how to live mine."

I'd officially offended her. Or I'd made her more aware of what she was doing. Either way, Estelle looked like she was about to cry. Maybe that has been a bit harsh.

 _'Maybe?'_ the voice asked incredulously. _'Harsh is putting it mildly, dear. Damage control. Now, please._ '

"Estelle," I started, "I'm not... Look, I'm not like you. I'm not like Rita, I'm not like Yuri - I've been a wanderer for a long time. I don't, I don't have something or somebody I love to keep me motivated, to keep me on track." I had to look away, I couldn't take the moisture in her eyes. "Everyone I had is gone. I don't have any reason to do much of anything anymore."

I ended in a whisper, my head close to my knees and speaking to the ground.

"Oh," came a breathy sigh. "Oh, Isa. But I've seen you try to protect monsters, isn't that..?"

I cut her off with a soft chuckle. "That's not - Estelle that's just a moral code my father taught me when I was growing up. It's not..." Its not why I get up in the morning. It's not my reason. I don't _have_ a reason.

"Your father was Anton Harroway, wasn't he." She wasn't asking, just stating facts, but I flinched before nodding. "Liam mentioned your last name when we were walking earlier. I've read about him. He was a hero during the Great War."

I nodded. Since when had my throat gotten so tight?

Estelle continued to prod gently. "The history books say he died to save thousands of lives, that -"

"Can we not talk about this?" I cut in suddenly. "You know what he did. I know what he did. He's a hero and he's dead, and he protected so many people but he left _me_." I choked on the last word, trying not to let the tears that had been building up spill down my cheeks.

"O-of course."

We fell into a comfortable silence as I tried to pull myself back together. I hadn't meant to vent for so long to the Imperial Princess, of all people, but the voice had told me to think out loud and I wasn't able to stop myself.

 _'Yes, but when I said think aloud and do damage control, I did not mean for you to spill your soul to the girl.'_ She was miffed, and I struggled to keep a straight face. Everything just seemed so funny, and I sighed, content, when I figured out why.

For the first time in a long time, I felt at ease.

How strange.

After a while longer, I was finally able to convince Estelle to switch places with me, though not before she shot off one last First Aid at the sleeping mage. As I pushed her into the bed, she beamed back up at me, almost as if she knew something I didn't.

"You know," she started softly, "he left a wonderful legacy for you."

I huffed. "He left shoes to fill and a reputation for making rash decisions in times of crisis."

"I think there's more to it than that."

"Go to sleep Estelle."

But she was insistent. "Protecting those who can't protect themselves? There are worse legacies to leave behind."

I didn't respond. Once she realized that I had nothing to say, Estelle shifted in the bed, rolling to get more comfortable as she settled down to sleep.

' _She's right you know.'_

I rolled my eyes at the voice. I _knew_ she was right, but I wasn't about to admit that I was wrong. Not out loud.

' _How rude.'_

I waited until I could hear her breathing even out before I ran my hands across my face. Estelle and my father would have gotten along grandly. Both had a natural ability to see the best in people, and would do anything in their power to make someone happy. They even spoke the same.

" _Now, my little rainbow, remember this: It is the duty of those who are strong to protect those who cannot protect themselves. It is how we give back and show love."_

But the people I'm with are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. Yuri was apparently a knight, and I'd seen him fight enough monsters to know that I'd rather stay on his good side. Rita knew her way around aer and magic to the point where I fear for the safety of the people who cross her, and when he put his mind to it, Karol could hold his own in a fight too. Even Estelle had enough training with her rapier and shield for her to take protection into her own hands.

Yeah, my father left me the best advice in telling me to protect people.

But these people didn't _need_ me to protect them.

I pulled my hair from its braid, letting the now crimpy locks waterfall in front of my face, successfully hiding myself from the world. I massaged my scalp gently and sighed. There is no worse feeling than knowing that you aren't necessary, thank knowing that you are redundant.

' _They don't need you to protect them.'_

"I know that," I hissed back. I did my best to stay quiet for those who were still asleep, but almost lost my composure at hearing the words out loud. Out loud? In my head. Same thing. "I literally just thought the same thing, and don't you dare pretend that you don't know that, you live in my head and I know you know what I'm thinking."

She carried on like I hadn't spoken. _'But do you_ want _to protect them?'_

I rubbed at my eyes, hard. I didn't know what I wanted.

I don't remember the last time I did something important that I actually _wanted_ to do, not just what other people needed me to do. I was needed around Halure, both for the protection I was able to offer and for the products of my green thumb bringing in traders from far off towns and helping increase trade.

I scoffed lightly. I didn't know how to _not_ be needed.

A particularly strong gust of wind came through the open balcony door, whipping at the curtains. Someone shifted in their bed.

I flipped my head back and pulled my hair up in to a loose bun, too tired to braid it back like usual. It was time to stop thinking about what others needed and didn't need, but to think about what I wanted.

But what _was_ it that I wanted?

' _Do you want to protect them?'_

"I do," I whispered to the wind.

They could protect themselves, that much had become clear in the past few weeks. But I still wanted to be around them. I still wanted to help them, and if that meant being redundant, so be it. I would make sure that they were safe.

I watched Rita's chest rise, then fall, rise, then fall again. It was reassuring. Calming. I turned to Estelle, who was smiling, even in her sleep. Yuri's back was to me, Repede asleep dutifully at the foot of his bed.

I let myself smile a real, genuine smile.

I would protect them. I may not have a goal as noble or as interesting as theirs, but the least I could do was keep them safe until they achieved them.

That would have to be enough.

* * *

Isadora's heart might just be melting.

-Han


	11. Chapter 11

Ugh. Guys. College is hard. Life is hard. I'm so sorry that it's taken me this long to get this chapter out to you all. I try to update at least once a month, but sometimes real life gets in the way. I hope you'll forgive me!

Have some exposition and a teeny tiny bit of plot movement in the meantime!

Thanks to _CallmeCrazylol, SaRan1999, Blue-Black Flames,_ and _Dictator-Chan_ for reviewing! You guys are the best! Also, huge thank you's to _Storyteller of Darkness, Skyx3, MiraRobin123_ , and _Wolfmoon356_ for following us! Welcome to the journey, I hope you have a good time!

* * *

"So you're saying you're a parasite."

' _Not quite,'_ the voice chuckled. _'We exist more in a sort of symbiotic relationship.'_

I scoffed. "That would imply that you do something for me in return for me giving you a body."

' _Do not patronize me, Child. I do far more for you than you think.'_

With the rest of the group asleep, the voice and I finally had a moment to talk. I was seated in a chair between the beds occupied by Rita and Estelle, absently noting the even rise and fall of the mage's chest. She really didn't need someone to monitor her, the healers here in Heliord, combined with the constant vigilance of our resident princess, made certain that she would be back to hurling spells and insults by the time she woke up.

But once Estelle had her mind made up, there was no talking her out of it. So here I was.

' _Does any of what I said make sense?'_

"Well no, but it makes me feel better to know exactly what you're doing to me."

' _I have explained everything as best as I can,'_ she said hotly. _'The fault does not lie with me if you do not understand.'_

I held my hands up in mock surrender. "No, no, I understand you perfectly. You live in my head and take aer out of my body because just taking it out of the atmosphere isn't good enough for you."

' _Then I'm gald we understand each other,'_ she sniffed in response.

"But nothing you've said can explain why I was crying blood." Which seemed like a pretty important thing to figure out.

There was a pause, then a sigh. _'I suppose not.'_

I scoffed. "You _suppose_. Look, you can do what you need to do to keep yourself alive, but just give me a head's up if it's going to kill me, alright?" I shook my head and scowled. "Common courtesy, man."

' _My best guess,'_ the voice cut in angrily, ' _is that your body didn't know what to do with aer of that density and did its best to dilute it before distributing it to the rest of your body. I had been storing aer since we entered that cursed city to keep it from burdening you, but there was simply too much for me to do while still in this form.'_ She spat the last part, and I suppressed a sigh. This wasn't the first time she had hinted that she hated being attached to me. ' _The overflow was up to your body to handle. After a while, it ran out of places to store the aer that was pouring in, so it started to push it through your bloodstream as a last resort.'_

Huh. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

The voice huffed. ' _It is. Aer was not meant to flow through human hearts.'_

"It wasn't?" I didn't actually know how the relationship between aer and the human body worked. I knew that aer could flow through the body – it had to for artes to even be possible. I'd always assumed that that happened through the blood. "Is that why my chest felt like it was going to burst?"

I had been so distracted by the pounding in my head back in Caer Bocram that I hadn't noticed how much my chest hurt until we were led to Heliord and I had trouble breathing any deeper than a shallow pant.

' _Presumably, yes. Do you truly want a lesson on aerobiological functions?'_ the voice sounded smug, already knowing the answer.

She laughed when I scowled and said I didn't.

' _As I was saying,'_ she continued, heading back to her original train of thought, _'the aer was likely physically inside your veins, displacing the blood that was supposed to be there.'_

"It needed somewhere to go," I cut in, starting to understand.

' _So it came out your eyes and through your ears, where the capillaries were weak.'_

I groaned and pinched at the bridge of my nose. "Lovely."

' _I would recommend staying away from large quantities of dense aer in the future._ ' I could hear a grimace in her voice when she spoke, though I couldn't quite place why.

A particularly strong gust of wind blew across the room through the open balcony doors, and Rita shifted uneasily. I waited until she had settled again to collect my thoughts.

"You don't sound pleased with this development," I mused, smoothing out the blanket curled tightly around our young mage. "We're learning things, isn't that something we should be happy about?"

The resounding scoff bounced around my mind. _'Astute observation, child.'_

"I am nothing if not astute," I grinned cheekily, stretching my arms above my head. My back popped and I had to suppress a groan at how great it felt. I was still tired and my body was still sore, but I felt less like death than I had before I'd fallen asleep.

My gaze fell upon my companions, all still sleeping soundly. Except for Karol. Who knows where that boy had gotten off to. I had half a mind to wake Yuri for his shift just so I could go back to sleep for a few hours before we figured out what was happening next, but ultimately decided against it. It had been a long day for everyone, and the effects of the aer had a tendency to linger.

Wait –

"Why didn't this happen to the others? We were all there, we were all exposed to the same thing. Why only me?"

I waited several long minutes for the voice to respond.

' _It did happen to them,_ ' she finally admitted. ' _It just happened on a lesser scale. The aer flowed through their veins and on through their hearts, much like it did yours.'_

I nodded, remembering how difficult it had been on Karol. "Okay, but why was my reaction so much worse?" Did the universe really hate me that much?

' _That, ah, would likely be my fault.'_ At least the voice had the decency to sound sheepish. _'I have been siphoning aer before it enters your body for the majority of your life, which is why you can perform strike artes with practice, but casting is difficult for you.'_

"Asshole." And here I thought I was just subpar at gathering the necessary aer.

She carried on like I hadn't spoken. _'In the past, I have been able to keep you from feeling the effects of higher density aer. As a result, your body's tolerance for it is dangerously low. When we entered that basement, I was unprepared for the amount of aer we would be facing, and most managed to slip past me.'_

"Which is why it hit me so hard, so suddenly?"

' _Yes.'_

I bit my lip. "Okay, but now you know and can be ready for the next time. Unless you can't handle it like you claim you can." I sneered the last bit, expecting a biting retort about her strength and the price I would pay for underestimating her.

' _Mmm,'_ came a hesitant reply.

I sat up a little straighter. "Wait, you _can_ handle it, right?"

The silence that lingered felt different than before, and I knew that she was trying to avoid answering. I almost knocked the chair over in my haste to stand and glare at the wall.

"No, _no_. You don't get to go quiet on me again. I _will_ find a way to physically fight you if you go quiet on me."

There was a huff, a short sort of laugh, before: _'Watch your tone, you will wake them.'_

I waved a hand absently at the others, but did lower my voice. "They're fine. You're not getting out of this. Can you do it or not?"

' _Of course I can do it, child.'_ I smirked. There was the fire. _'A better question would be for how long; an answer I do not have. It would be best for you to avoid aer krene and Hermes blastia altogether.'_

"Wait, avoid what?" Those were new to me.

' _Aer krene are the wells through which aer enters the world and Hermes blastia are interesting little amalgams that should not be an issue much longer.'_

"Okay," I drew the word out, trying to wrap my head around what she was telling me. There was something short about her tone that led me to believe that she didn't want to discuss it. But I prodded anyway. "And why do you know about these?"

' _Stories for another time,'_ she dismissedairily _._

Well okay then. I could tell when I was fighting a losing battle, but I wasn't quite done fishing for information. "What do you think would happen if I were near them?"

' _I do not wish to speculate, but I am not my strongest in this form.'_ Ooh, she was bitter about that. _'By the way your body has, for lack of better words, decayed in the past several hours since the incident, I do not think it wise for us to find out.'_

"You think it would kill me?" I asked bluntly. It wasn't like the voice to beat around the bush unless it involved something dangerous. That, and she had said _us._ The voice didn't care about what I did unless it put my body in danger. My death would mean her death too.

A sigh. ' _In time, yes. I believe that your body would be unable to handle the stress and will simply cease to function.'_

"Oh." That wasn't what I was expecting to hear. I sank back into the chair and slid slowly down until my chin hit my chest. I opened my mouth to say something probably less than eloquent when Rita shot into a sitting position with the most dramatic gasp I have ever heard.

I sat up straighter in my chair and schooled my expression into something like passive amusement and raised an eyebrow at the way she whipped her head around, trying to figure out where she was.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," I commented drily. A stray ray from the setting sun found its way into my eye and I flinched before scooting my chair out of its way. I could feel a headache coming on, and the bright lights were the opposite of helpful. "Or should I say good afternoon?"

There was a shuffling sound, and I turned to meet Yuri's gaze before looking sharply away. I still didn't want to talk to him.

"What the hell happened?" Rita touched a hand to her head and took a deep breath. "I feel like I ran into a wall."

"Speaking from experience, are we?" I grinned when she scowled. "You just ran into a ton of aer and decided to take a four hour nap. I can understand your confusion though."

"Oh, lay off, will you?" She was – was Rita _blushing_? "I had to do something. The blastia was out of control!"

I kept my thoughts to myself and shrugged. She wasn't one to admit that she was wrong, and I wasn't in the mood to argue. Speaking of things I wasn't in the mood for, I felt more than saw Yuri get up and make his way over, and I took that as my cue to go occupy another space. With one last pat on the little mage's leg, I stepped over to the balcony.

Delta opened a single, sleepy eye, and meowed softly. I reached down and ruffled her ears as I walked past. She shook her head with a huff and stood slowly to follow.

The view off the balcony was absolutely stunning. We were about five stories up, and overlooked a beautiful little mountain range. The city was built in between two hills, more a series of connecting bridges than anything, and the inn was situated over the steep incline that was the back of one of the hills. The protective barrier was about the height of my chest, and there was a clear inscription warning the reader that the inn was not responsible for any injuries sustained while playing on the railing.

They probably didn't want people sitting on it.

So I sat on it.

I could hear the echoes of a conversation happening back in the main room and did my best to tune them out. The buzz in my head was growing, melting their words into a meaningless stream of sounds that I could be bothered to interpret. If it was important, they'd tell me about it later, and I didn't want to take away from the view.

In hindsight, I should have seen it coming. The headache, the absence of witty remarks, and my needless desire to sit on the edge of a cliff were all leading up to something and I had just decided to ignore them.

So I was caught completely off guard when the dragon and his rider made a surprise guest appearance in my field of vision, not three feet away from the edge of my nose.

"Oh, _fuck._ "

In the panic that was my mind for the next several seconds, the only sensible thought I had wasn't even mine.

' _Fall backward, Isadora. I swear, if you fall forward and we somehow survive I will kill you.'_

I fell backward, and I fell backward _hard_.

The sound of my head bouncing off the linoleum flooring echoed into the sleeping quarters, and I could barely make out the shuffling of movement over the screeching in my mind. I scrambled to right myself again, and made it on to all fours before the beast in front of me roared. I froze.

Someone blew past the balcony door, Yuri probably, if the shouting was anything to go by, but didn't attack like I thought they would. Was I blocking his way or did he want me gone so badly he would let this thing take me out for him?

' _That is absurd. He is not like that.'_

I didn't have time to ask her if she was talking about the dragon or about Yuri.

The dragon continued to stare into my soul.

I met the beast's eyes and tried to channel all of my emotion away from my eyes. I could fake confidence in front of this thing. It didn't have to know that my only weapon was sitting propped up against one of the beds inside. It didn't have to know that I was powerless to protect myself without it. It didn't have to know that I was beginning to feel afraid.

I choked when I realized that it probably already knew.

Its mouth started glowing, gathering aer into a ball so concentrated that I could feel the life leaving my lungs, and I knew I had to _move_ or it would kill me. The voice was screeching, but I had no idea what she was trying to tell me, and I couldn't tell if that was my fault or hers.

But I balked when I moved to get out of its way. I could easily get out of the way, sure, but the attack wouldn't just stop because it didn't hit me. It would keep going, barrel through the inn where the rest of my travelling companions – my _friends?_ – were standing. But if I just took the hit…

I had _just_ accepted the fact that I was ready to protect these people, but I didn't know that that ideal would be put to the test so _quickly_.

I stood there, took a breath, and steeled myself, decision made.

And then Yuri, bless him and his quick reflexes, was in front of me, sword out and up in a defensive position, catching the blast of aer on the flat of his blade before flinging it back at the dragon. It dodged easily, and the aer dissipated back into the atmosphere.

With a wild roar, the dragon disappeared into the distant clouds with a few powerful swishes of the its tail. The ringing in my head disappeared with them, and I felt the cool sensation of a sigh spread blissfully across my mind.

I sank back onto my heels and was wondering what the hell had just happened when a heavy hand rested on my shoulder. I looked up into Yuri's dark eyes, my face schooled into something that I hoped was impassive and raised an eyebrow.

"You alright, Scout?" Was that concern in his voice?

There was a growl from behind him that was decidedly neither of our animal partners. "Ooh, I'm gonna kill that dragon freak the next time I see him!" The aer was shifting subtly as Rita tried to put a lid on her rage.

Estelle was awake and wringing her hands nervously in the background where she stood with – when did Karol get back? Confusion was etched across both of their faces, but neither of them spoke.

I gently shook off Yuri's hand and rose to my full height. Delta wove her way through my legs, her weight a comforting presence as I took a calming breath. "I'm fine."

Eventually Rita sighed. "Just when the conversation was getting interesting."

"Hey, that's enough talk about Estelle's healing artes for now," Yuri said.

"That's alright, I have most of it figured out by now anyway."

Karol was looking back and forth between Yuri and where the two girls were standing, confusion clear on his face. "Wait, what are you guys talking about? Come on, tell me!"

I started inching my way toward the door as an argument between Rita and Karol caught fire. Yuri noticed my slow attempt at an escape and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged, but something told me to wait instead of leaving.

His eyes were searching mine, his face straight and no trace of the judgement I had expected to see. I fought the urge to scoff, I wasn't going off on my own to spite him, I just needed something to _do_. We'd been cramped in this room for too long, and there was still a lot of nervous energy coursing through my veins from the conversation I'd had with Estelle.

I just needed space, and I didn't need permission for that. I didn't need his approval.

But here I was, waiting for it.

He nodded once before jumping into the ongoing conversation to tease Karol. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and ghosted out the door and into town.

* * *

The sun was sinking lower and lower on the horizon with every step I took, and I raised a hand to stifle a yawn. I'd been allowed to sleep, yes, and I was no longer exhausted, but I was still tired. It was the sort of tired that penetrated my bones and echoed through my soul.

'You're being dramatic.'

"I have every right to be dramatic," I huffed back under my breath. I'd strolled up to a little shop and didn't want anybody to overhear me talking to myself.

I was stocking up on gels and some other small things when a little wooden block caught my attention. It wasn't anything impressive, just a little thing that fit easily inside my cupped hands. Each side of the cube was painted a different color and had a three by three grid carved into it. I turned it over in my hands, intrigued.

"Ooh, you have a good eye!" called the woman running the stall. She tripped over herself trying to make her way back to where I was at the counter. She placed the bag of things I'd asked for in front of me and gestured at the cube. "Go on, give 'er a twist."

I raised an eyebrow, but did as she instructed. The right column of the front face rotated up, and the left column rotated down under my fingers, revealing the colors that had been on the bottom and top sides in their places. I grinned up at the woman.

"It's a puzzle."

She smiled brightly and nodded. "Mix that puppy up well enough and you'll have hours of fun trying to set her right again."

A smile wormed its way onto my lips as I continued to fiddle with the puzzle, getting a feel for how the pieces moved against one another. Already the colors of the front face, which had been white in the beginning, was a rainbow of pieces that didn't belong.

I loved puzzles.

"How much?"

But the woman just waved a hand. "Don't fret about that, dear. Just promise that you'll put her to good use and pass her on when you've figured her out well and good."

"Oh," I blinked back at her, "but I couldn't –"

"You can and you will!" the little woman insisted. "That's how I got to have her and that's how I want to send her off. You look like a bright girl, I'm sure you'll have a good time learning her ways."

So, smile still on my face, I walked away from the little shop with a bag of treats and a new timewaster. Delta sniffed at it when she returned to my side from where she had been wandering and seemed to nod her approval. I rubbed at her ears.

"Oh, there you are Is!" Karol was suddenly at my elbow, all smiles.

I blinked back at him. "Here I am."

He didn't catch the way my words dripped with sarcasm and tugged at my sleeve. "Come on, we're heading for Keiv Moc! Rita has to check out the aer disturbances in the forest there for the Commandant's blastia researcher and Estelle is coming along, so we all get to travel together for a bit longer!"

"I thought Estelle was going back to the capitol?" There was no way Alexei had changed his mind. The princess was too valuable to the Empire to allow her to just wander off again. And to Keiv Moc, of all places?

"Not yet. Alexei asked Yuri to look after her so she could help Rita with her research."

I smirked at the thought. "I'm sure Yuri loved that."

Karol's brows drew together for a moment before letting the comment pass. "Anyway, we're leaving soon so hurry up and meet us back at the inn when you're ready!"

And then the boy ran off, tripping over his own feet as he went. There had been a question on my lips, and I let it slip at his retreating back.

"He still wants me around?"

' _I don't think he ever wanted you to leave,'_ the voice said softly.

I blinked. They had assumed that I was coming with them. Yuri had sent Karol to find me and bring me back so we could leave Heliord together.

Huh.

Delta and I walked slowly, contemplating the strange turn of events. For one, Yuri wasn't going to kick me to the curb; a thought that made my chest feel much lighter than I thought it would. On the other hand, there was the situation with Estelle. It didn't seem logical for Alexei to let her go, not when he had worked so hard to get her back.

That is, unless there was something else going on? But what else could there be?

I asked the voice what she thought of the situation.

It was a few minutes later, and there was a slight hesitation in her voice when she finally responded. _'Something is not right here.'_

I sighed, resigned. "Peachy."

* * *

Not a lot happens her in the way of plot movement, but we get to know a little bit more about the voice and what's happening between her and Is. And we got a rubies' cube! What a great day! If you know what happens in the game, you'll know what I mean when I say that Keiv Moc is going to be an interesting ride for our girl.

Ah well, I'm sure everything will be fine.

-Han


	12. Chapter 12

The journey to Keiv Moc led us through the city of Dahngrest, Karol's hometown and the guild capitol. It was an easy walk, even though it was growing longer with each minute Karol spent dragging his feet up in front. I'd been to Dahngrest a few times in my own travels, but didn't particularly want to lead the way and rain on the kid's parade. He'd seemed pretty excited about going home again.

Which was interesting, considering the fact that it took us nearly twice as long to get there than it should have. Our weird sleep schedule in Heliord had us walking through the early morning hours, and we should have reached civilization well before sunrise. However, there was the sun, blinding as always, and Dahngrest was only just growing larger than a spec on the horizon.

He was stalling, and I couldn't figure out why.

Going home should be an exciting thing, especially for someone as young as Karol. Going home to Halure wasn't really a possibility anymore, given the decision I'd made, but was still a thought in the back of my mind. The idea of going home when all of this was over made me smile.

But I was playing with my puzzle block and didn't really have the attention span to focus on two things at once. The block was a curious little contraption, and I'd gotten a single side to be a solid color in the hour or so I had been fiddling with it. As hard as I tried, I couldn't get that side to stay finished while I worked on the others. There had to be some way to move one piece into place while maintaining the placement of the others, I just hadn't found it yet.

It was starting to frustrate me.

I played with my cube all through the main square of Dahngrest, not really caring enough to look around. All cities look the same after a while, and the guild den wasn't exactly my favorite place. It was sort of dreary and dull, and actually should have been right up my alley. It was nothing like the bright atmosphere of places like Capua Nor or Zaphias, and people tended to mind their own business.

I was probably just biased. I'd grown up where the empire's influence was strong, and I was a military brat. My father had been one of the most influential men in the Imperial Knights, and he taught me everything he knew about living according to their rules. Fortunately for me, that also included how to bend them without actually breaking them.

But guilds were the one thing I could never quite understand. My father respected them and spoke fondly of a few of their leaders, almost as if they were old friends. They lived outside of the rules, making up their own and living life on the edge. It was dangerous and unstructured, and it didn't make sense to me, so I didn't like their city.

Yuri disagreed with me, but what else was new.

I continued ignoring everything until Karol got into a verbal spat with some guild goons. They were poking fun at the little guy for hopping from guild to guild and running scared from monsters, and I rolled my eyes. Couldn't anybody cut this kid a break? He was twelve, for goodness' sake.

I stood back with a smirk and let Rita and Yuri beat them up verbally, opting to place my elbow on Karol's head and rest my chin in my hand. I hoped he'd understand my presence was my way of showing support in this one.

He pushed me off and complained about how I would mess up his hair, but he did so with a smile that let me know we were on the same page.

Before I could say anything, because I _was_ going to say something, a shrill alarm cut through the peaceful morning quiet.

"What's that sound?" Rita asked, staring in confusion as people filed out of buildings across the city. The two goons shared a knowing look and disappeared.

"That's the alarm," Karol explained. "It means that monsters have been spotted near the barrier."

"Monsters?" Estelle echoed, sounding slightly panicked. "Wait. So this shaking is the monsters' footsteps?"

I stilled, finally allowing the faint vibrations in the ground to reach my senses. She was right; the ground was shaking in a way reminiscent of the way the earth would tremble before an attack on Halure. My hand moved unconsciously to finger the hilt of my sword as I slipped my cube into my pack.

"If so, they've brought quite the army." Yuri's eyes were narrowed, scanning at the distant horizon in anticipation. There was a part of me that knew he was itching for a fight. The walk here from Heliord had been relatively quiet without any real challenges along the way.

Karol put his fists on his hips and shrugged off his concerns. "Yeah, but I wouldn't worry too much. Even if there have been a lot of monsters around here lately, our barrier is strong, and it's never been broken before."

The words had literally only just left his lips when a _pop_ rang out over the sound of the alarm.

I glanced up and sighed. Of course.

"The barrier … disappeared..?" Estelle sounded unsure of what she was seeing.

"Damn it, Karol," I groaned, "look at what you've done – you broke the barrier."

"I-I didn't break it! I swear!"

"I don't know about that, Captain," Yuri drawled, seemingly unconcerned. "Didn't Halure's barrier break down when you were there? Maybe you're just an unlucky charm."

"W-what? No way! Is was there too, it's her fault!"

I rolled my eyes. "I live there, kid, and it's never happened before." I pointed at Yuri in mock accusation. "I blame Lowell."

"What did I do?"

I shrugged, grinning. "Probably something."

He seemed to ponder this for a moment before shrugging. "Probably."

"Yuri, we have to go stop the monsters!" Estelle, ever our voice of reason, cut in and brought us all back down to earth. Right. Monster attack. Not a time for jokes.

We were already by the entrance of town, so we didn't have far to travel to find the front lines of the battle. Yuri and Rita wasted no time in jumping into the fray, while Karol wasted all the time in the world. Estelle hung back by me, assessing the situation before diving in headfirst.

"Something seems different about these monsters," she said more to herself, but I spared her a glance anyway. She was thinking hard about something.

I drew my sword and cut down one of the giant beetles that had snuck past and was headed for the city. "I don't know, Estelle, these ones can fly? Because they're bugs?" I was grasping at straws trying to see what she saw.

But the princess just shook her head and steeled herself. "It doesn't matter. They're threatening lives and they must be stopped."

"Okay, great. So what's your plan?" She blinked at me in confusion and I sighed, gesturing at the rapier and shield she kept strapped at her hip. "Are you planning on fighting or healing? I'll watch your back either way, but I'd like to know just how close of an eye I have to keep on you."

I rushed out to meet a lizard-shaped beast that I'd never seen before, making quick work of its unarmored body before retreating to hear Estelle's choice.

"I'll fight first, but if I see anybody who's hurt – "

"You'll step in, got it. Give me a head's up when you do, yeah?"

She nodded, and the deadly dance began.

When she was fighting, Estelle and I worked well in tandem. She had a flair for flashy artes, while I was more brute strength and sword work. We'd ended up at the eye of our own little hurricane and worked back to back, turning slowly and finishing off those left weak by the other. There were times when I took on the majority of the work as we came across some of the fighting guildsmen who sported injuries that Estelle deemed worthy of her care. In those moments, it took most of what I had to keep the monsters at bay. They were strong, I'd give them that. It was concerning.

I did have to pull out some of my stronger strike artes like Radiant Harmony and Fluorescent Drive when my typical Vibrance wasn't enough, and even pulled off a spell or two at some point. While aer gathering wasn't my strong suit, I had a penchant for light, and I had familiarized myself with the formula for Photon long ago. Thank goodness it was morning and the sun was out or I wouldn't have been able to pull it off.

I also managed a Guardian Field at one point, which was something I would have celebrated if there weren't still a dozen monsters surrounding me. Guardian Field was one of those rare healing artes that didn't hurt more than it helped, which was great because I was a bit more battered than I would have liked to admit.

I had no idea why that one, of _all of the healing artes_ , worked with me. I asked the voice, but she didn't know either. I decided not to question my fortune and pushed it out of my mind.

I'd lost Delta early on in the fight, and though I knew she could take care of herself, there was also a nagging sense that some dumbass guild member would see her and lump her in with the attacking monsters and I would never see my best friend again.

It turns out my worries were ill founded when I fought my way into the eye of a different hurricane and came upon her and Repede working together to take down some behemoth mammalian beast. I smirked. Looked like those two were getting along after all. I cringed when Repede landed on Delta's tail and my partner turned her viscous snarl on the dog.

Well. Whatever, they were trying.

I lost all sense of time during the brawl, and while I was painfully aware of the sun climbing higher into the sky, the waves of monsters attacking Dahngrest didn't slow in size or ferocity. One thing I did notice, however, was the ease with which I fought. I wasn't holding back; in fact, some could argue that I was being merciless, killing without a second thought.

I hesitated, wasting an opportunity to land a fatal strike on a downed bird. It slipped through my hands and limped off, trying futilely to take to the air. I watched in morbid fascination as another fighter struck it down, mesmerized by the way the blood arced gracefully through the air before showering the cobblestones.

It was in that moment that I realized what was happening.

I didn't recognize any of these monsters. I wasn't familiar with their species, their habits, their favorite hiding places. I hadn't been present at their births and I didn't mourn with them over deaths. I didn't _know_ them like I knew the monsters in the Quoi Woods. I was beginning to understand just how the Hunting Blades could suggest that all monsters were evil and that reasoning with them was useless – it made them easier to kill.

I shuddered and made a mental note to hug Delta extra tight when this was all over.

There was eventually a lull in the action and Estelle was healing some wounded civilians, so I took a moment to take stock of myself and the rest of the situation. Yuri was off wreaking havoc on the edge of my vision, and I could see a little orange figure running around, which I had to assume was Karol. Given the fires that were burning and the pull in the aer around me, Rita was still kicking somewhere nearby as well.

I was a little banged up, but had no real injuries to note other than a small gash in my thigh that had only recently begun to sting. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle, though, and I didn't want to waste the time to pull out my pack and treat it in the middle of a battle.

I was about to call out to Estelle to hurry it up when she suddenly darted in front of me, eyes wide. I had to yank her back out of the way of a retreating beetle-thing so she didn't end up impaled and leave me with the job of explaining why the princess was dead after we'd promised to look after her.

Well, technically speaking, Yuri promised. I'd probably get off easy, especially if I played my family card.

' _Isadora,'_ the voice warned wearily.

I grinned sheepishly. We both knew I wouldn't let Estelle die, but I was in a battle haze and wasn't thinking clearly.

Speaking of not thinking clearly.

"Estelle, what the hell!"

"Flynn!"

I looked in the direction she was pointing and balked when I saw her favorite blonde knight fighting off the monsters beside Sodia and Liam. A huge man with white hair and red war paint was cursing at them and gesturing wildly at the distant horizon.

I paled in the wake of Don Whitehorse's wrath.

"Ah hell, this isn't gonna end well."

Thankfully, I didn't have to see the knights get run out of town with the rest of the monsters. Yuri was suddenly at my side, eyes hard.

"Come on, Rita's going to find a way to fix the barrier blastia and we're going too."

"Lead on, leader."

He started jogging after Karol and I fell into step at his side. I made an offhand comment about the kid leading and getting us lost that made Yuri smirk.

"At least he waited for us."

I bit my tongue to keep from lashing out. That was low. "Alright, cool it Mr. Passive Aggressive. Be mad at me later." Rita was shouting in the distance, standing before a glowing green screen, and I pushed on ahead. Yuri only huffed as I left him behind.

Estelle was on the ground, kneeling next to the still form of a man. She looked up with tears in her eyes and shook her head slowly. "We're too late. This is so horrible."

I placed a hand on her shoulder, not sure what else to do. My eyes were dark as I looked to Yuri, and I took little pleasure in the way his expression matched mine. Repede and Delta were off after Rita, tripping over one another to race up the stairs leading to our mage.

I shook my head at their on-again off-again relationship and back up a step to find what they were so excited about. I knew Repede liked Rita, but Delta was still a bit antisocial when it came to getting close to our companions. They had both taken up protective stances behind the working Rita, and were snarling in sync at a slow approaching group of men in black cloaks.

"Ah hell," I breathed, taking off after them.

"Rita, behind you!" Yuri called, sword drawn and taking the stairs two at a time. These men bore the same guild insignia as the assassins from Halure, and my mind whirled as I tried to place the symbol. I don't think they were one of the master guilds, but it was still a familiar emblem, even to an empire brat like me. This guild was big and powerful, and apparently wasn't going to disappear any time soon.

There were four of them, though only three moved to attack.

"We won't let you fix the barrier," one hissed before swinging a curved dagger at Rita's back. Yuri stepped in, easily catching the small blade on his own with a smirk.

I was lucky enough to catch the pull in the aer that meant Rita was casting, and threw myself on the ground just as a fireball roared to life and plowed through the assassin I'd been advancing on.

"Watch where you're flinging those things!" I smoothed down my hair and shuddered at the smoldering pile of flesh that hadn't been as lucky as me. I was soon distracted by the third assassin and rushed to engage him before anybody else could kill him. "This one's mine!"

"Rita, just focus on the blastia and let us handle this." Yuri ended the argument before it even started, ducking under the attack of one of the assassins. He cut the man down in the next moment before moving on to the next.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the fourth man, the one who had never actually attacked us, slinking off into the shadows. I quickly turned my attention back to my own fight and tossed my sword across to my left hand before throwing a punch with my right. I caught the guildsmen across the jaw and smirked as he fell before subtly shaking my hand out. That _hurt_.

I flipped my braid back over my shoulder and lazily scanned the fray. Where was my guy and did he think he was going? I spotted him just as Yuri called out.

"Damn it! Is – "

"Already on it." Seems I hadn't been the only one to see the rogue assassin sneaking off. Delta was on his heels before Yuri had said anything, and with a quick mock salute to my friend in black, I was quick to follow.

The Red Eye took us around the corner of the next street before Delta ripped into his heel, bringing him down in a heap of curses. She snarled, circling around to his back while I walked casually up to face him, rolling my wrist in preparation.

"I'm getting real sick of seeing you guys and your dumb little goggles."

I ignored his bitching and just started collecting what aer I could and pushed it into my hands.

From what I understood about the world, there were two main types of aer: natural and affinity based. Natural aer was raw and wild, and could be easily plucked and molded into different artes. Affinity aer contained the six elemental subcategories for spell casting, and I was _really_ bad at pulling it from the atmosphere. The best thing about strike artes was that they weren't picky about what kind of affinity the aer had – all it needed was the power.

I could feel a bit of light based aer mixing in with the natural aer in my hands and smirked. Turns out this would be an altered arte.

"Stop causing mischief, little girl," the man hissed his way through my wall of ignorance. "Leviathan's Claw will have their way, and this would be so much easier if you'd stop meddling."

"Ha, that's too bad. Mischief is my strong suit." I pushed the aer through my hands and into my blade as I spoke, and slashed a particularly bright Vibrance at his chest twice in quick succession. The man fell in a flash of color and didn't get back up.

I breathed harshly out my nose and released the double handed hold I'd taken up. "You made me chase after you, and you didn't even put up a fight? Rude."

I reached down to congratulate Delta on a job well done, choosing to ignore the way my hands were still tingling from the strike. They did that sometimes after I used artes, and I _had_ been fighting all morning. Which I suppose made sense now, based on what I'd learned from the voice.

' _Not everything is my fault,'_ she huffed.

"I'm learning that most things that go wrong in my life are indeed your fault," I laughed wearily. Now that I had a moment to breathe, I realized just how exhausted I was. "Just accept it."

' _This is not,'_ was the cryptic response.

"What, the barrier failure? Yeah, I'm pretty sure we figured out that that was because of these guys." I kicked at the dead man at my feet. "Red Eyes, which means what did he say, Leviathan's Claw? Which means the guilds are going to have some explaining to do."

' _Oh, just look down, Child.'_

I humored her and had absolutely no idea what I was looking at.

"What the hell?"

Instead of my sword, there was a small sword and a dagger in my hands.

"What the _hell?_ "

I held the dagger in my left hand and stared at the blade. It looked like a miniature version of my actual blade, though there was only a single blue stone embedded in the steel. A glance at the thin blade in my right hand – was this a rapier? What the hell? – found the other two blue stones glowing faintly in the metal.

It was like my sword had split in two.

"Hey Is – whoa, since when do you have a dagger?"

I turned, eyes burning, to face an excited Karol. I tried to calm my frantic heartbeat – I couldn't afford to panic right now. There were still people counting on me. "Apparently since right now."

The rapier had a shorter reach than my other sword – man, what even _was_ my other sword? Some fighter I was, not even knowing what type of weapon I used. I think my father had said it was a jian, but I honestly had _no_ idea – and I swung it experimentally. It felt balanced, and I had to sigh. It was a nice weapon.

But I wasn't exactly trained with it. I could use it, sure, but it would be difficult. And while I knew there was a technique to combine rapier and dagger as a defensive option, I had no idea how to make it work, and now was _not_ the time to play around with a new technique.

"What's going on, Karol?" I couldn't think about this right now. I glanced up, looking for a distraction. "Barrier's back up, I see."

"Huh?" He'd been staring into space and blinked rapidly to bring himself back to the present. "Oh, yeah. Rita played around with the formula and got it to work again."

I nodded. Of course she fixed it. "So what's the next move?"

Karol started walking back toward what I assumed was the center of town, or at least wherever the others had ended up. "Yuri and Estelle went to see if they could get an audience with the Don. I came back to get you so we can go to the Union Headquarters and meet up with them."

"Okay great. What are the chances that he'll see us?" I tried to fit my new rapier in the scabbard for my jian so I wouldn't be walking around town with a naked blade. Sure, it could be justified in light of the monster attack, but the barrier was up again and I didn't want to cause any more fights. I grimaced as the smaller blade rattled around, the noise a hollow reminder of what I had lost. The dagger I stuck in my boot with a sigh. It would have to do for now.

"What do you mean? He's the Don, of course he'll see us!"

"Yeah, but he's the _Don_ , Karol. And we aren't exactly a guild." I waited for him to put the pieces together.

He stuttered through an excuse when he did, then ran up to where Yuri and Estelle were chatting with Rita across the street.

Delta huffed. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't be sassy, I know you like him."

She tossed her head in defiance, but trotted off after him.

Turns out I was right, the Don wouldn't see us, but not because we weren't a guild. He decided that he would put an end to the monsters by attacking the nest, which wasn't the worst idea in the world, but it also wasn't the greatest. Monster hordes don't exactly all nest together and then spontaneously decide to go attack human civilizations. Monsters typically nested by specie, and only attacked when provoked. The monsters around Halure had adapted to the typical springtime barrier failure were smart enough to recognize that the opportunity offered a free meal, but that shouldn't be the case around a city where the barrier was notoriously strong.

Something must have changed in their environment enough to lead them to attack.

And now Don Whitehorse was going to be walking into hundreds of individual monster's dens and provoking them because some people could only think with their swords. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

But that wasn't my problem. Somebody else could handle it. I just wanted to sit down.

"Then it's decided! Let's go to the forest of Keiv Moc."

I had tuned back in in time for Estelle's declaration and I bit back a groan. That was the _opposite_ of sitting down. Of course we were going to see the weird plant anomalies in the middle of a forest that was probably crawling with things that wanted to hurt me, and I had two weapons that I had no idea how to use. Wonderful.

The others all left to do who the heck knows what, and I sank to the ground and leaned up against a building. They would come find me before they left. Probably.

Delta curled into my side, and I slid off my pack and started rummaging around inside, going up as far as my upper arm trying to find what I was looking for. I finally found an apple and my box of oils and set to work patching myself up. I also pulled the dagger out of my boot and cut into the apple, eating while I worked.

"Look," I laughed to Delta, twirling the dagger gracefully around my fingers, "this thing isn't so useless after all."

She huffed and closed her eyes, basking in the warmth of the afternoon sun.

"Hey," I eventually asked the voice around a mouth full of apple. "Do you know how I'm supposed to get these things back into my sword? Not that this isn't fun, but I would appreciate not having to figure out what to do with them when we get into the forest."

' _I do.'_

"Will you tell me?"

' _Perhaps.'_

"Are you fucking –" I swallowed hard. I knew what that tone meant. "Why won't you tell me?"

' _It is something you must learn for yourself. You cast the spell, now you must reverse it on your own.'_ Her tone was smug and I hated her for it.

"Okay sure, my actions, my consequences to deal with. I get it. But can it wait until we get back from Keiv Moc? I'm not trying to die in that forest." I hissed as the skin of my thigh started the slow process of knitting itself back together.

' _I should hope not,'_ came a huff. _'However I made a promise once to not spoil all of Anton's secrets.'_

I groaned. "I hate that you knew my dad. You were all up in cahoots with one another and its annoying."

' _Cahoots?'_ Laughter echoed around my skull.

"Yes, cahoots. Do I get points for vocab?" I held out the apple core to Delta. She took it in her teeth after sniffing at it for a moment and slowly started gnawing at it.

' _I suppose so.'_

"But you won't tell me how to reverse the spell."

' _I suppose not.'_

"Of course you won't."

"Isa, are you ready to go?" Estelle's voice rang out from across the room and I sighed as I pushed myself off the ground.

"I suppose I have to be."

* * *

Happy Christmas break? Or happy holidays, depending on where you are in the world and what religion y'all are. Happy December, at least!

So this chapter was supposed to encompass all of Keiv Moc as well, but I underestimated the sheer volume of things that happen between entering Dahngrest and leaving Keiv Moc. I had over 8,000 words in my draft and still had way too much to write, so I cut it in half so I could at least get this out to you guys before you start wondering if I'm alive. Which I am. Hello!

So yeah! Happy chapter 12. We've got some important things happening in both this chapter and the next chapter, so keep your eyes open!

 _-Han_


	13. Chapter 13

A very Happy New Year to all of you lovely people, and a happy one year anniversary to Passing Silhouettes! I can't believe it's been a year. It feels like yesterday when I started drafting this story (which was over six years ago now, wow) and look at how far we've come! Ahh!

But guys. This is a huge chapter, not just in word count. I've been waiting for this one for a really long time, so I hope you all enjoy it!

And a very special thank you to _CallmeCrazylol, Blue-Black Flames, SaRan1999_ , and _2 Lazy 2 Sign In_ for reviewing, _GlaresThatKill_ for following, and _ayafeatkalona_ for following and favoriting ! I love you all very much :)

 _2 Lazy 2 Sign In,_ since you reviewed on guest, I'm going to take a quick moment at the end of the chapter to respond!

I also realized I've never put in a disclaimer in here? SO: I don't own Tales of Vesperia or its characters. Isadora and Delta and any other people you don't recognize from the game probably came from my brain though.

* * *

We stopped to rest for a few hours maybe half an hour later. Turns out fighting a horde of monsters takes a lot out of you, and we were all pretty wiped. We'd only just reached the edge of the forest when Yuri called for us to stop, deciding that the cover provided by the trees would be as good a place as any.

Karol flopped onto the ground immediately, bemoaning the soreness in his legs. Estelle sat beside him more gracefully and offered to heal him to make it better. Yuri told her not to. It would be best to conserve her strength, and Karol could handle a little soreness. Rita only rolled her eyes.

Delta scurried up one of the nearby trees, content to lounge on one of its lower branches. I followed her slowly, fingers brushing at the tall grasses by its trunk. I'd had enough social interaction with people for one day, and really just wanted to be alone. The grasses were a soft contrast to the roughness of the bark on my back, but I sighed happily anyway. I finally got to sit down.

I dozed lightly, waking every few minutes or so whenever the wind shifted. The on and off cycle didn't bother me much; after spending so much time with Delta, I'd grown accustomed to cat naps during long journeys, and I had always been a light sleeper.

At one point, I looked over at the others to find them awake and chatting about something. The wind picked up their voices and carried them away from me, and I curled in on myself a bit before settling back into the tree. They hadn't left without me, which was as good a sign as any, but they also didn't care enough to want me with them now. That was fine, though. I'd been shutting down conversation they'd tried to strike up until now, so I could hardly expect for them to keep trying.

I pushed down at the part of me that told me it hurt.

What I needed was a distraction. I could pull out my puzzle cube again, but I didn't feel like being frustrated right now. And there was the off chance that I would figure it out, and then what would I do to ignore the others on the walk back to Dahngrest?

I settled for pulling out the rapier and the dagger. Maybe there was something in them that would help me put them back together again.

They really were beautiful weapons, I just had no idea what to do with them. The rapier I could probably get by with, but the dagger was a different question. I held it out in front of me with a grimace. Its reach was far too short compared to what I was used to. In the hands of someone who knew what they were doing, it would be a formidable weapon. In my hands? Not so much.

"What's with the change up?"

I'd noticed Yuri ghosting my way, but didn't expect him to bring a conversation with him. I hummed softly, twirling the dagger between my fingers.

"I figured things were a bit too easy and decided to up the difficulty setting." I held out the dagger to him. "Fancy a go on hard?"

He took it with a skeptical look. "Hard? Looks to me like you jumped straight to expert."

"I like a challenge."

He nodded, turning the dagger over in his hands slowly. "And the real reason you got rid of your sword?"

I sighed. "Magic sucks is why."

"Hey now, magic doesn't suck," came Rita's hot reply. She slid into the space on my other side and crossed her arms. "You just suck at magic."

I blinked at her as Yuri snickered. "And why do I suck at magic, oh great – and – all – knowing –Rita?"

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, ignoring me, and held out her hand out to Yuri. He handed the dagger over and she squinted at the hilt. "A spell did this, you said? Which one? I've never seen anything like it."

"I didn't use a spell." She shot me a disbelieving look before turning her attention to the blade. "Honest, I didn't. And if I did, I didn't mean to."

"How can you cast a spell without meaning to?"

"Shut up, Lowell. You're not helping."

"Well, what was the incantation? Maybe I can work backwards."

"Rita, I didn't cast a spell, I didn't say any incantation!" I was getting flustered. Rita wasn't wrong when she said I sucked at magic. Casting was by far my weakest talent. As in I had zero talent for it.

Rita stroked her bottom lip as she thought. "Hmm, well you must have used aer, whether you meant to cast the spell or not. Do you remember what you had channeled before the split?"

I took a breath, calming myself and thinking back. "It wasn't anything special, just the natural kind."

"That's unusual. Most spells require affinity based aer in order to function. Maybe the real magic is happening within the weapons themselves?"

She disappeared for a moment before returning with a small mechanism from her bag. It opened like a magnifying glass, and she peered at the blue stone embedded in the hilt. I looked at Yuri, eyebrows up. He shrugged.

"What's Rita doing?" Estelle asked as she and Karol came to join us.

"Beats me," said Yuri. He leaned back into the grass, crossing his arms behind his head.

"I'm looking for a formula," the little mage explained. "If Isadora didn't cast the spell that split her sword like she claims, that means she probably activated something embedded within it. I'm trying to find it so I can reverse it."

"Great." Of course it couldn't be as easy as her telling me the reverse spell. Of course I had to be special. "Are you finding anything?"

She grunted, sounding frustrated. "There's something here, but it's too raw to make out."

"What does that mean?" Karol's nose was scrunched up as he tried to make sense of what Rita was saying.

"It's sort of like there's an outline for a formula, but it's incomplete. There's potential, but no substance, no designated pathway for the aer to flow. Ugh, but I can tell that there's so much more, I just can't see it!" She threw down her device and shoved the dagger back at me.

' _I am surprised she could see even that much.'_ The voice sounded almost impressed. I couldn't exactly respond with everyone around me, but I clenched my jaw in frustration. I knew she knew how to reverse this, but she was being a brat and wouldn't tell me.

"Whatever," I said, trying to diffuse the situation. "I'll figure it out later."

Yuri stretched his arms overhead as he sat back up. "We'll get you a new sword back in Dahngrest. Until then, you'll have to make do with those. Rita, are you ready to go?"

I nodded absently, but knew I could never go through with it. This had been my father's sword, and it meant too much to me to just abandon it. The voice had said that the splitting of the jian had been one of his secrets, which meant there was a way to put the rapier and dagger back together. All I had to do was find it.

And I _would_ find it.

* * *

The journey through Keiv Moc wouldn't have been awful if I'd had my own sword, though.

Rita had a journal out and was documenting most of the botanical abnormalities and commenting on how the pockets of excess aer were disrupting the natural flow of aer within their roots. She kept going, but I was putting my dagger to use, cutting off small sections of the flowering plants I recognized and shoving them into my bag for later.

I was running low on a few of my oils and needed to restock.

As it stood, I was holding my own with the rapier and the dagger, though the latter of the two lay dormant in my left hand through most of the monster encounters. I just didn't know what to do with it outside of using it like a pocket knife.

I hung back with Estelle to keep an eye on her while she casted, and I flipped the dagger carelessly around my fingers as Yuri and Karol attacked a small swarm of flying beetles. It ended up back in my boot when more monsters joined the fray, and I sighed as I got to work.

The old man Raven joined us a little while after we entered the forest, claiming he was on a mission for the Don. I spent most of my time ignoring him and his overzealous advances. He was, however, skilled with a bow and arrow, and I slid deftly around his frame to strike down one of the beetles that had been sneaking up on his right. It went down in a shower of light after I'd slashed a Vibrance at its face.

I squared up against another beetle, this one with a glowing blue gash in its side and a broken arrow in one hind leg. Yuri and Raven had been busy.

A stroke that would have caught the throat of the beast with the point of my jian fell a few, critical inches short of its intended target, and I was cursing aloud through the rest of my follow through.

"Don't get careless!" Yuri barked as he knocked my opponent back with a well–placed Azure Edge.

"Yeah, yeah, take care of yourself, Lowell," I bit back. I didn't need his sass right now, I was frustrated enough with myself as it was. And I didn't need his help. My next attack didn't miss, and the corpse slid from my blade and hit the ground with a satisfying thud.

Yuri eyed me cautiously in the silent moments after the monsters had either been killed or run off. Rita was following her trail again, Repede trailing slowly after her. I met his dark eyes easily and could only sigh. I didn't have an excuse for him.

I knew he wasn't mad when he smirked and nodded at my hands.

"Maybe it's time to get the babysitter a babysitter." His smirk widened to a full, shit eating grin at the murderous glare I shot back. But even as I glared, a part of me sank. I shouldn't need anybody to protect me. I was supposed to be protecting _them_.

"Don't worry, Isa! I'll protect you!" Karol said, rising to the unspoken challenge, hands on his hips.

Raven was quick to slide an arm around my shoulders in a hold that I was equally as quick in sliding away from. "Oh, no. See, this is a _man's_ job, my boy. I can handle our dear Izzy just _fine_."

I grabbed Estelle and pulled her next to me as I started following Rita again, trying to ignore both the bickering of Yuri, Raven, and Karol, and the growing headache at the base of my skull.

 _Boys._

* * *

I knew we were coming up on something important when the monsters we encountered became more organized and more vicious.

We'd just finished taking down a particularly nasty group of walking venus fly traps when Raven let out a dramatic sigh. "Alright, what gives? There's no way monsters like this should be this… smart!"

"Well the Commandant did say that this forest was full of anomalies," Rita dismissed quickly. "Hey old man, maybe if we leave you here long enough you'll get smarter too."

Karol snickered. "Nice one, Rita."

I ghosted closer to Yuri as another argument broke out.

"He has a point, you know." I continued at his raised eyebrow. "This isn't normal. Monsters can be intelligent, yes, but there's something off about this."

He nodded slowly, eyes trained on the rest of our companions. "Yeah, I don't like it either. But the girls are pretty set on exploring for Alexei, so there isn't a whole lot we can do." I shifted uncomfortably, drawing his attention. "You alright down there, Scout?"

"I'm fine, I'm just nervous for some reason," I said slowly, ignoring the slight at my height. I was perfectly average – Yuri was just _tall_.

I'd actually had a headache for a while now, and really just wanted to lie down and take a nap, but he didn't need to know that. I was fine.

"We'll be out of here soon, whether they're done or not. Sun's setting and I'm sure none of us want to spend the night here." He raised his voice to call out to the others. "Let's start moving again."

We were attacked again a short while later as we tried to break through a line of trees into a clearing by a single scorpion. The tip of its tail looked like the claw of a crab, and didn't actually move until Rita, who was still out in front, came within ten feet of it.

"This is just like those monsters that attacked Dahngrest!" Estelle exclaimed as Rita skirted out of reach. The monster's tail swung low and flat just behind her.

I grimaced. I hadn't seen this kind of beast before, which meant I was going in essentially blind. Great.

I had a bad feeling about this.

Rita immediately lit into the scorpion thing with a few different earth based spells while Yuri and Repede attacked on the physical plane in an attempt to draw first blood. By the screeches I heard, they were successful.

Delta was by my side, waiting patiently for my direction. We'd been separated during the battles at Dahngrest and had been almost inseparable since then. A shared glance settled things – we'd go in as a team on this one.

In an unspoken agreement, Yuri and Repede took the front while Delta and I handled the tail. Karol bounced around with a huge hammer he'd picked up in Dahngrest, dealing crippling blows to the smaller hind legs whenever we gave him a window. Raven and Rita rained devastation from afar, and I could hear the aer singing as Estelle played healer.

We worked well together, but the thing just wouldn't die.

"This one's a little tough," Raven panted after a few, tireless minutes. He nocked another arrow with a groan. "Let's just get it over with."

He let loose a volley of arrows that had to have been charged with earth based aer, because the ground softened where they hit and started to drag the scorpion down. A particular cluster had forced the mouth on the end of the monster's tail to the ground, and it was now slowly sinking into the earth.

When Delta pounced on it with a defiant roar and forced it even lower, I had an idea.

Sprinting forward before I lost my window of opportunity, I drove my rapier through the base of its neck with a sickening _squelch_. A combination of Raven's arrows and my own strength managed to bury the first several inches of the blade into the ground. The tail – head screamed in agony and thrashed, trying to free itself, but my attack held true. It was stuck.

It took the rest of the scorpion a while to realize that it could only travel in a circle around where I'd just pinned it down, but I was long gone by then. Dagger in hand, I joined Yuri and Karol just out of reach as we took a moment to catch our breaths.

"Interesting tactic there, Scout," Yuri said drily.

I flipped my braid and let out a short laugh. "I do what I can. Alright Karol, you're up."

Karol visibly paled. "W-what? Why me?"

"Because that's my sword over there. I did my part, it's time for you to carry your weight."

"Scout's got a point there, Captain," Yuri rested his elbow on my shoulder and looked carefully at his nails. "We've done our part."

"You guys suck."

Repede and Delta both nipped at his heels to spur him forward, but before he got the chance to go back on the attack, a huge fireball came from nowhere and set the thing ablaze. The monster screamed as it died before finally falling still.

"Or we could kill it with fire. That works too."

Rita dusted her hands off before placing them on her hips. "Well? Let's get going!"

"Hey, put this out, you'll burn down the whole forest." The bright blue of a Splash came flooding from the heavens, nearly dousing a curious Delta who had pawed up to the scene. "We'll work on your aim later, but thank you!"

I made my way over to the wet pile of ash and grabbed my rapier with a sigh. Delta nosed at the back of my knee and I reached down to stroke at her ears before following after our spitfire little mage.

That bad feeling I had grew worse when I finally stepped into the clearing.

There were yellow globs of aer gently rising from the ground before breaking off into smaller spheres in the uppermost branches of the great trees. As Rita drew closer to the phenomenon, I took a step back.

This scene was familiar.

' _I thought we were going to avoid these,'_ the voice said wearily.

"Wait, is this one of those krene things?" I hissed back under my breath.

' _Yes, there are several around the world. The one at Keiv Moc is one of the oldest.'_

I was fuming to myself. "And you knew it was here? Why didn't you say anything before?"

' _Would you have stayed behind if I had?'_

A clicking sound made me pause before I could answer. There was another one of those scorpion things lingering on the edge of the clearing. I ushered Estelle closer toward the center of the group where I could keep a closer eye on her.

"Considering the fact my eyes started bleeding the last time I was around aer this dense, probably!"

' _Oh.'_

"I don't have a fucking death wish, you know!"

We'd all seen the monsters at this point, and unconsciously moved closer together. I ended up back to back with Yuri as more of the scorpions creeped into the clearing. "Got any more ideas, Scout? I'm open for suggestions."

"Sacrifice Karol to appease the gods that you have so clearly angered?" I joked through my teeth. Karol protested vehemently, but Yuri actually laughed.

"Sounds a little cliché to me. Got anything with a bit more flair?"

Before I could respond, someone descended from above and landed between the insects and where we stood. The figure, who had white hair down to their knees, thrust their sword into the air. A strange symbol blinked to life as some of the excess aer rushed in, and the world flashed white.

When I finished blinking the spots from my vision and I could see again, the monsters were gone. Red eyes were peering at us over a shoulder, and I gestured exaggeratedly at the man.

"Is that enough flair for you?"

Both Yuri and the man ignored my comment, and the latter scanned the area behind us with a frown. I turned to look at the aer krene, which looked exactly as it had before this man's arrival. Did he expect something different?

"Curious. Is Dein Nomos losing its power?" His dull eyes scanned us as if we held the answer. "Or is there something else..?"

"What are you talking about? Who are you?" Yuri demanded.

Raven answered in a low voice, "Duke."

Duke only tilted his head to the side, eyes lingering on me. He seemed to mutter something under his breath, more talking to himself than answering Yuri or Raven. The symbol in the hollow of his sword was still flickering, the light purple light illuminating only half of his face in a harsh contrast to the pitch black of night.

I narrowed my eyes, fingers dancing nervously on the hilt of my new sword. What was he planning?

"If I cannot calm it myself…" Suddenly I was looking at him down the length of his sword, its point only a few yards from my face – much too close for comfort.

My jaw clenched and I fell into a defensive stance, reaching down smoothly to draw the dagger from the outside of my boot. I hoped to _hell_ that I wouldn't have to fight this guy. Monsters I'd been handling fine without my usual sword, but this one looked like he knew what he was doing, and I happened to enjoy being alive, thank you very much.

The glow of his weird-ass sword picked up intensity, bathing the two of us in a spotlight. Delta and Repede were growling on the edge of my hearing range, and Karol and Estelle were protesting along with them, but only one thought crossed my mind.

Why do these things always happen to me?

I had warily noted the growing strength of the light around us in the tense moments that followed, but I didn't expect a similar light to come from me as well. I was still staring down the white haired man, so I figured my bodhi blastia was just reacting to the formula within his sword, but when I heard the gasps from the peanut gallery I had to sneak a peek to see what the fuss was about.

I was glowing.

"Well that's new."

"Now is not the time for jokes, Isadora!" Rita's voice cut through the haze in my mind. She sounded stressed, and was clearly upset that I was handling it better than she was.

But on the inside I was panicking. Why was I _glowing_?

I received my answer in the next second. My glow seemed to reach a peak in intensity, then burst forward from my chest in a flurry. The color of the glow changed from a deep lilac to a brilliant golden hue, stretching out in a thin line from the center of my chest. I lowered my weapons, mesmerized.

The tendril of light swam gracefully through the sir, looping over itself once and swaying from left to right until it started to pool a few feet away from me. It seemed to bubble and pop as light continued to flow from my chest to a growing ball. It almost seemed to breathe. A hand burst forth in a shower of sparks, followed by the rest of the arm and another hand until everything seemed to fold in on itself before emerging larger and brighter and almost human.

But there was also something distinctly _inhuman_ in the appearance of the figure that was floating before us. Perhaps it was the pair of elegant horns sprouting from its hairline and reaching down to curl gently in the center of its lower back. Or the sheer connective tissue connecting to a point at its wrist all the way down to its lower leg, giving the appearance of wings that were showcased when it stretched its arms overhead.

Or, perhaps the most obvious, was that it was composed entirely of light, giving its form a ghostly and otherworldly glow.

I took a step back.

But the creature only smiled serenely at me, nodding once. It eventually turned slowly to face Duke, golden robes fluttering gracefully in the around its lithe figure.

"Lady Khana," he bowed in greeting. "A pleasure to see you again."

The figure, female, if the title said anything, lifted her chin. "Hello, old friend." Her voice was like silk, soft and smooth and so _familiar._ "I wish I could say the same."

"I will admit, of all the possibilities, you were the last I expected to find here."

She smiled. "Oh? Expecting Elucifer, then, were we? He would have been much better company than either of us, I reckon. But alas, he is lost to the both of us because of your actions."

"Do not blame what happened – " Duke growled, only to be cut off by the flippant wave of a hand.

"But of course, how could anyone possibly blame you? Perhaps it is time to let bygones be bygones." Her burning eyes raked over his form before her lips twisted into a mocking smirk. "I see the years have not been kind to you."

Duke scoffed. "At least I do not dwell within a _human_."

"I do what I must to survive." The voice sounded unfazed, and simply cocked her head to the side. "You require my assistance, I would advise you not to anger me."

Duke only sighed, and gestured at the aer krene. "Will you calm it?"

Khana – _the voice_ , I suddenly realized – hummed lowly. "It does not need to be calmed, my dear. Only adjusted. Perhaps if you left these things to my kin instead of meddling, the job would be done correctly the first time. But I will do as you ask."

She floated away from me, and the chain of golden light connecting us flickered the further she got. A small gesture with her hand toward the base of the krene was all she did, yet the pressure in my head lessened significantly.

She floated back and nodded to Duke. He bowed back without a word and turned to leave the clearing. Rita went after him, shouting on about a formula, but I didn't hear her. I was too shocked by the _thing_ that was tethered to me.

Said thing smiled at me. "Hello, Isadora. It is nice to meet you face to face at last."

I think I said something equally as eloquent, but I was too busy gaping to remember.

She drifted closer and placed her pointer finger on my forehead.

' _Though you may recognize me better in this way.'_

"Holy shit," I breathed. "It's you."

Khana pursed her lips and pulled away. "Language, Child. There are children present."

I ran a hand though my hair and barked out a laugh before trying to focus on something that I could actually wrap my head around. "You fixed the thing. What the hell did you do?"

"I have altered the aer flow within the krene. The anomalies like the ones exhibited here are natural; as the world around it shifts and grows, so must the aer krene. If no one is there to adjust it, the world suffers."

"And just how did you know how to adjust it?" Rita demanded, back from grilling the silent white-haired man. I blinked, suddenly remembering that we weren't alone in the clearing. Everybody else had grown eerily quiet, and I wanted to sink into the earth so I didn't have to try to explain all of this once they followed Rita's lead and found their voices.

"It was once my duty to oversee the world's aer krene. The task has since fallen to my brethren, but the memories are slow to fade."

The little mage was bursting with unasked questions, and she finally blurted: "What else do you know about them?" at the same time Yuri tried to cut in with "Who the hell are you?"

The ghostly figure chuckled, lifting a transparent hand to cover her smile. "I am Khana, Queen of the Spirits, and I know much."

Silence fell.

I paled. I had been so rude to her over the years, and she turned out to be some sort of _queen_? I was going to die. She was going to kill me.

Raven eventually shattered the quiet with a nervous laugh. "Surely ya can't be serious."

Khana turned to face him and arced an elegant eyebrow. "Oh? I remember you, my dear, from the war and before. Shall I share stories to prove myself?"

He crossed his arms almost defensively in response. "I-I don't know what ya mean."

"Hmm, I could call you by name – "

"That's not necessary."

"But there are many to choose from. What is it you go by now?" She had adopted a teasing tone, almost as though the two of them shared some sort of secret.

Karol finally found his voice and cut in. "His name is Raven, and I'm Karol!"

Khana turned with a smile. "Ah, young Mister Capel, it is a pleasure to meet you at last." Karol glowed as the spirit moved to nod at Estelle. "Your Highness. Miss Rita, and you." She glared at Yuri for a moment before turning on a dime back to me. Yuri's face was priceless as she mimed his annoying habit of turning his back to those he was talking to. "Yuri Lowell. I expect you all to take care of my host. All life has value, and you will do well to remember that she is not the only one that exists within her body."

With that, she disappeared with a flash, rushing back in to my chest with enough force to make me stumble back a few paces. I placed a hand over my heart where she had entered and tried to school my breathing into something normal.

"When were you going to introduce us to your friend?" Rita asked hotly.

"We're not friends," I said on reflex. The mage stalked over and punched me in the shoulder at the same time Khana jabbed the back of my mind. I winced. I didn't deserve either of those.

"Okay, well, when were you going to introduce us to your random spirit?" Yuri was trying to calm the air, but there was tension in his stance. He eyed me warily, and for the first time I didn't blame him.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to. I mean, it's not like I knew…" I trailed off before shaking my head slowly. I didn't know what they expected me to say.

"So you _didn't_ know you had a spirit in your head?" Disbelief tinged the edges of his words. I scoffed lightly. I wouldn't believe me either.

"I didn't know she was real!" I said after a moment of struggling. I needed them to _understand,_ but I didn't know how to explain myself right now. "I thought she was something I made up, like an imaginary friend that just never went away." I took my head in my hands and stared wide eyed at the ground as I realized the magnitude of my situation. "There's a spirit in my head, what do I do."

' _Oh, calm down, Child,_ ' the voice – Khana – scoffed. _'A part of you has always known that I was real.'_

"Yeah, the part of me that's _crazy_ ," I hissed back.

"Wait, are you talking to her?" Karol caught on quick and was at my elbow, tugging at my sleeve. "Tell her I say hi!"

That shook me out of my downward spiral long enough to bark out a laugh. "She can hear you, Karol. I don't have to tell her anything."

' _Hello, Karol,'_ she said with a smile.

"So when you talk to yourself, you're actually talking to her." Yuri was more stating a fact than asking the question, and I nodded, feeling a blush rise up on my neck. He'd heard me talking to myself after all. "Alright then."

"Alright?" I echoed. "What, no sarcastic comment about my sanity?"

He turned his back on me and tossed a carefree grin over his shoulder. "I'm sure I'll think of something later."

He was sending mixed messages. The turned back meant he wasn't happy about something, but he was still joking and smiling. For now.

Oh, I was gonna get hell about this later, wasn't I.

Shit.

"Wait, so we're all just okay with this?" Rita was still fuming, hands planted firmly on her hips. "Isadora shares a body with some sort of spirit, and we all just accept it? How did that thing even get _in_ her in the first place?"

All eyes turned to me, and I shrugged uncomfortably. "Don't ask me, she's been there for as long as I can remember."

"Well, what does _she_ have to say about it?"

I scoffed. "She's not always the most forthcoming on those details, Karol. I didn't even know she had a name until now."

"What an incredible gift!" Estelle, at least, wasn't freaking out over the news. She actually looked a little awestruck, and had been slowly inching closer to my side since the spirit had disappeared. I took a step back and maneuvered Delta between us before I sat behind my partner and buried my face into her neck.

"Gift. Yeah," I muttered into her fur.

' _Rude.'_

"Shut up."

Rita threw her hands in the air, adamant in her anti-Khana stance. "But we don't know anything about it! It could kill her, for all we know!"

Khana had begun to protest, but faded into silence at Rita's words. She had a point.

' _Would it help to say that I mean you no harm?'_

"Probably not."

' _Ah.'_

"Look, there isn't a whole lot we can do about Scout's situation," Yuri tried to calm the fiery mage. "I'm sure if it becomes a problem she'll let us know, right Scout?"

I tried not to shrink under the weight of his gaze and just rolled my eyes instead. The attitude would probably distract him from my half answer. "Sure."

"Then that's that. Let's head back to Dahngrest and meet with the Don. The sooner we get out of this forest, the better."

I lived up to my nickname on the way back to the city, staying as far ahead of the group as possible without losing track of them. Delta had her nose to the ground, tracking our scents back the way we came. For only the second time in my life, I felt nothing as I cut down any monster in my path. I let my mind run blank, focusing only on getting a better feel for the rapier in my hand, but a single thought kept slipping through.

They knew my secret.

Not that I had known it was this big, but I'd always hidden the fact that there was a voice in my head that was distinctly not me. People get sort of weird about things like that, and while I wasn't exactly a people person, I liked being ignored by them. If it got out that I talked to a voice in my head, there would be whispers and stares, and I'd never get to be the wallflower I'd grown up loving. Everything would change.

Who was I kidding. Everything was _going_ to change. They _knew_.

' _You're wallowing.'_

"Yup." Why else would I be so far in front of everybody?

' _Are you truly so ashamed of me? I can assure you, I am still powerful enough that I should be feared, but you have never been afraid of me. Nor have you ever been afraid of what others think. What is it about these people that have you so worked up?'_

"I actually like these ones," I said lowly, "and I don't want to give them another excuse to tell me to leave."

She didn't respond.

Raven ended up beside me at some point in the following silence, nothing more than a shadowy presence at my elbow. I only really noticed him when I was cleaning blood from my dagger and saw the arrows in the flesh of one of the giant praying mantises at my feet.

I shot him a wary glance as he continued after Delta. "You've been quiet through this."

"This old man's just tryin' ta watch his tongue so our resident spirit doesn't come rip it out," he said with a dramatic sigh. "How ya holdin' up?"

"I'm fine."

He didn't believe me. "Uh huh. Sure ya are, kid."

I could only shrug half-heartedly. "Would you be?"

"Nope. Not right away, at least."

"Exactly." My hair had fallen in front of my face, and I huffed at it to clear it from my eyes.

We walked on in silence for a few minutes before he finally continued. "But yer made of tougher stuff than I am. You'll say yer fine that and mean it soon enough."

I smiled softly at that. "You know, you're not as bad as the others make you out to be."

"Aw, am I good enough for Ol' Raven to get a smooch?"

I rolled my eyes. "How about you tell me how Khana knows you and I forget you suggested that?" Raven nearly tripped on a root, and I smirked at the way the color drained away from his face when he regained his footing.

"That was cold, Izzy darlin'. Ice cold."

"I know, I'm great at parties. Now 'fess up. How do you know my spirit?"

He groaned, closing his eyes and lifting his face toward the sky. "Can't you just ask her yerself?"

"I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt." Given the way he'd reacted earlier, the reason they knew one another wasn't exactly the greatest. Sure, I could just ask Khana, but for some reason, I wanted Raven to trust me. Going behind his back wasn't the way to accomplish that.

"It's a long story."

I gestured at the vast forest in front of us. "We've got time."

"It's also not one I like to tell." There was a note of finality in his tone, and I held up my hands in surrender.

"Whatever, man. Just trying to make conversation." I knew I had lost, but I'd get my answers sooner or later, no matter who I had to ask.

A silence settled over us, and the only conversation we made happened in the middle of a fight if we needed the other's help. Raven was decent with wind based attacks, and we fell into an easy rhythm. Working with him was entertaining, to say the least.

We were nearing the edge of the forest at Keiv Moc when Delta ran back to wind her way between my legs and growl lowly. With narrowed eyes, I held up a hand for those behind us to stop and get ready.

"What's going on, girl?" I asked softly. Delta only sunk lower to the ground and growled more harshly.

I didn't notice that the ground was shaking until Raven stumbled. A cloud of dust was growing in the distance, and Delta actually paced back a step with a whine. I looked down at her, then back up at the growing threat, then back down and made a decision.

"Time to move, old man!"

I grabbed the sleeve of Raven's big purple coat and tugged him down behind the trunk of one of the massive trees off to our right. I saw Yuri herding the others behind one of the larger roots in time for a horde of monsters to come stampeding past.

"That's a lotta beasts," Raven said after a long, low whistle.

"Yeah, and they're running away from something." I'd been around enough monsters to know when they were scared. But what of?

"It's him!" I heard Karol exclaim as Yuri finally released him from their own hiding place. "It's Don Whitehorse!"

Well. That answered that.

"I guess we don't have to worry about the Don after all," I said to Raven. When I didn't get an immediate sarcastic response, I turned, seeking out the familiar purple robe. But the space to my left was empty. "Alright, rude. Where'd he go?"

' _He will be back.'_ There was a knowing lilt in her voice that kept me from questioning her.

Instead I shook my head and slid into place behind Karol, trying to resist the urge to scare him while his back was turned. I failed, and snickered as he squealed.

"Come on, Is. Not in front of the Don."

I rolled my eyes. "Stop whining, you're making a bad impression." I did, however, calm down a bit. I didn't need to impress him, but he was still powerful and influential, and not somebody I wanted to make an enemy out of. Plus we were still trying to get an audience with him, so I made an effort to be on my best behavior.

"Runaway aer?" the Don questioned. He stroked his beard, deep in thought. "My old friend, Belius, used to say something about that."

"So it's true that the Don and Belius are friends…" Karol said quietly.

"Who is Belius?" Rita asked before I had the chance to.

' _She is the Duce of Pallestralle, the guild who runs the coliseum of Nordopolica,_ ' Khana supplied.

I bit the inside of my cheek, then hummed. "She a friend of yours?"

' _You could say that.'_

"Was Duke a friend of yours?"

Khana barked out a laugh. _'Did we act like we were friends?'_

I gave a halfhearted shrug, suddenly conscious of the fact that I was talking to myself. Karol was getting reprimanded by the Don about humility, and everyone's attention lay there for the moment, but I kept my voice low as I responded. "I don't know, you called him an old friend, but I can't tell. I'm new to the whole friend thing."

Her voice softened. _'You're doing a fine job, Isadora. They like you.'_

I could feel the blush creeping slowly up my neck. "Shut up."

"If you're done talking to yourself, Scout." Yuri cut into my thoughts not unkindly, gesturing back to the real world. The blush climbed higher, but I held my head up, determined not to acknowledge it.

"Shut up."

Raven was standing before the Don with a fondly annoyed look on his tired face, and Karol made a comment about his belonging to Altosk, the Don's own guild. Huh. I guess that made sense, in some roundabout way.

' _I told you he would be back,'_ Khana said smugly.

I ignored her.

"Don Whitehorse." Yuri put on his 'I'm in charge, listen to me' voice and I exhaled sharply in amusement as the man eyed him warily.

"What is it?"

"I know we've only just met, but I have something I need to talk to you about."

The Don continued to stare into Yuri's eyes, and I had to applaud my friend for not backing down. He kept his cool, a slight smirk on his lips the whole time, as though he knew something the other man did not.

Eventually, the Don sighed. "Alright, fine. I have something to attend to, but stop by the Union and you'll have my ear first chance I get. Sound good?"

And just like that, we had our audience.

* * *

 _2 Lazy 2 Sign In_ (and I'm assuming this other Guest review is from you as well?):

Hi there! Wow, thank you so much for all of these reviews! I hope that Passing Silhouettes is more interesting than the rest as well, my friend. I understand that Isadora can come across as a little crass and mean in the beginning. She can be a brat when she wants to. I don't think she does it with the intention of being mean, however. Like, some people just want to see the world burn, so they light matches? Is isn't one of those people. She's just ... shall we say cold? But, as you can see, she's warmed up a little! Now she's just a sassy sassy!

And yes. All of the weird things do happen to my character. Shrug.

 _\- Han_


	14. Chapter 14

Huge thank you's to _SaRan1999_ , _CallmeCrazylol_ , _ApatheticGamer_ , and _2 Lazy 2 Sign In_ for reviewing! You guys keep me going, ahh. Also! Thank you to _SkyLion27_ for following and _Layla Riddle_ for following and favoriting! So so so sorry I made you all wait so long for this one.

 _2 Lazy 2 Sign In_ : You have strange timing, my friend. Here you go!

* * *

The walk back to Dhangrest had been quiet, both in terms of monster attacks and small talk. I'd resumed my post out front with Delta, and Raven had gone ahead with the Don, robbing me of my conversation partner this time. It didn't bother me though; I'd had a lot on my mind anyway.

Yuri did venture my way when we got closer to the city, and surprised me with his carefree tone. In hindsight, I should have known better. Not that he didn't care about things, it just took a lot to faze him. Harboring a spirit probably didn't even register for him.

And speaking of the spirit, Khana had gone quiet on me again. Though this silence was different than the times where she was actively ignoring me. I could tell that she was thinking about something, and she'd actually responded, however shortly, when I asked her what was wrong.

She claimed it wasn't any of my concern, which concerned me.

Dhangrest was calmer than we'd left it, and the fading sunlight bathed the buildings in a beautiful golden light. Turns out we had a lot more sunlight left than we'd thought: the thick foliage at Keiv Moc blocked out most of the sunlight, making it feel later than it actually was. The streets were near empty, but those who were out and about were lively and almost seemed to glow, they smiled so wide. They looked content.

"Let's get to the Union Headquarters and see the Don!" Karol skipped past me, turning with a grin.

"Right, because he's had time to finish what he blew us off for," I said more to myself. "He didn't leave that far ahead of us, kid."

But we ended up in front of the headquarter building anyway. Karol dragged Rita and Estelle inside, going on about how great the Don was. Yuri placed a hand on his hip as he studied the exterior of the building.

"Don Whitehorse…" he said softly, then turned to me, head tilted. "I can see how a man like him can rise to the top of the Union. He's pretty impressive."

I had to agree. "Yeah, well, let's hope he's in a listening mood. He's not exactly known for his conversational abilities, Yuri. His reputation is on the battlefield."

He only shrugged, smirking and gesturing grandly at the door. "After you, Scout."

I squared my shoulders and sauntered in, teasing back over my shoulder, "Smart to let me go first. Knowing your luck, they'd kick you out before you got three words in. At least I have a chance."

I could hear him groaning in the background, and I smiled softly. Taunting him came so naturally. Delta brushed past my legs, huffing softly as though she led me down the hall to where the girls had probably convinced Karol to wait for Yuri and me. I could see him slumped on the floor, tapping a foot impatiently. Raven was standing a few paces away, eyes closed and arms crossed behind his head casually.

The confidence with which I walked through the Union building didn't stop me from worrying over what the Don would do when we told him about the Blood Alliance and what Barbos was doing. My father had told me stories of Don Whitehorse, and while he always spoke of the man with respect, it was the grudging type that led me to believe there was more to the story than he led me to believe.

' _Trust that he will be patient and hear you through.'_

"What reason has he given me to trust him, Khana?" I grinned tightly as Karol sprang to his feet and moved enter the Don's meeting room. Raven followed with a dramatic sigh and pushed through the doors.

' _Karol trusts him. Yuri trusts him. Is that not enough?'_

I fought the urge to scoff as I followed the young guildsmen through the gilded doors. "Karol idolizes him, and Yuri has more trust in what the Don can do than trust in him personally."

She hummed, then went silent.

I followed the others into the chamber, Yuri and Karol in the lead. I don't actually know when Yuri passed me. I hope he didn't hear me talking about him.

Voices that were distinctly not from any of my travelling companions came from deeper within the room and I was trying to place them when the younger sounding of the two addressed the newcomers.

"Yuri..?"

I groaned and stared up at the ceiling. That was Flynn, which meant that this couldn't end well. As much as he and Yuri claimed to be friends, they butted heads more often than he and I did, and that was saying something.

My eyes followed Raven as he ghosted over to stand beside the Don. I could see Liam with his back to the wall off to the right, and he waved when his brown eyes landed on me. There was tension in his shoulders as he turned his attention back to the Don that made the kindness in his eyes a bit harsher than I'd grown accustomed to. What were they talking about that had him so on edge?

"What, you two know each other?" There was mirth in his laughing eyes, which made me all the more wary. How long would that amusement last?

Flynn turned his attention back to the man in front of him. "We're old friends, yes."

"Ya don't say…"

"I see you know Yuri as well." While he didn't ask outright, the Don picked up on the question and nodded a few times.

"We met during the assault on the city. Interesting company he keeps." His eyes slid from Flynn's to take in our ragtag group. He chuckled before moving back to the business at hand. "Now, what were you saying, boy?"

Yuri, apparently, didn't catch that the question was directed at Flynn, and stepped up until he was beside the blonde knight.

"We've come to ask you about a man called Barbos of the Blood Alliance." The authority in his voice made Flynn pause in his reprimand. He looked surprised. "It looks like he's the one behind the stolen blastia core problem."

I tuned out a bit as the old friends went back and forth. Liam jumped in now and then, but he looked more nervous than he should have. At a sharp look from Flynn, he shrunk back and tried to look small, which meant Flynn was about to drop a bombshell.

"We have come to request that the guild Union relinquish all ties with the Blood Alliance."

Ho shit.

"Other guilds have begun to follow Barbos' example, abusing blastia in other areas and disrupting the order of society. If we can count on your assistance, the empire feels that together we can move to put an end to the Blood Alliance and restore order."

Don Whitehorse either wasn't surprised or had an impeccable poker face. He just gazed at the knight before him with an unreadable expression and stroked his beard. Liam shifted his weight nervously from one foot to another.

"…Barbos. He's been testing my patience as of late." His eyes hardened as he continued. "Looks like it's time to teach him how a proper guild behaves."

That sounded … ominous. But it looked like the Don was on our side, which was a relief. I tuned back out and played with one of the little tapestries on the wall. The one I was standing by was an embellished sort of bow and arrow that I recognized as the emblem for Altosk. I peered down the hallway we'd come through and saw four similar tapestries on each of the walls.

I took a few discreet steps backward to look at them in greater detail. The next tapestry depicted an opposing pair of battle axes.

' _The Blood Alliance,'_ Khana supplied.

I nodded once, fingering the fraying edge of the fabric before moving on to the sext set. I recognized the strange set of circles and arcs as the emblem for Fortune's Market, followed by the hammer that symbolized the Soul Smiths.

The last of the tapestries was another that I hadn't seen before, but I could guess which guild it represented. A large arch with a pair of crossed pick axes bisected by a shovel. This was probably Ruin's Gate. One tapestry for each of the five master guilds. That made sense the more I thought about it. This was the Union Headquarters, after all, not just Altosk's.

I vaguely heard Don Whitehorse agree to send word to Belius of Pallestralle that they would be helping the Union. I assumed that they had worked out some kind of deal at this point. A woman ran past me to deliver the message. Good for them.

I started edging closer to the door. We'd gotten what we needed, which meant that we would be leaving any moment. And I'd rather leave while we still had the opportunity to do so in one piece. Yuri's bad luck and his flamboyant relationship with Flynn had yet to blow up in our faces, and I didn't want to take the chance that if we waited around, things would go to hell.

So, naturally, everything went to hell about fifteen seconds later.

"Show our guest to his own private suite!" The Don was bellowing, and not in a friendly, 'I have a deep voice,' kind of way.

"Don Whitehorse, please listen to me!" Flynn was on the verge of begging, which neither suited him nor boded well for us. "This is a mistake, it must be some sort of trap! His Highness Ioder would never – "

"Get this mongrel out of my sight," the Don growled. "Take me out of the picture, my ass. Bah!"

What the hell did Flynn _do_?

Estelle tried to reach out for her friend as he was ushered past, but Yuri held her back. His face was stony, and I could tell that he was already thinking of ways to get Flynn released. I crossed my arms and tried to look unfazed as the knight was marched past me. He didn't even spare me a glance.

"All-out war with the empire!" Don Whitehorse's declaration had me staring slack jawed at the guild boss. Was he _serious_? "We'll take everything we've got and march on the imperial capital! Try and make a fool of me? I'll tear this messenger limb from limb!"

I paled. He _was_ serious.

He was storming down the hall heading my way, and I scrambled closer to the wall. The steps he was taking actually shook the foundation, but my pride forced me to watch as he passed by. The Don was glaring at the door, but spared me a sideways look when he was a few feet away.

Wait. Did he just _wink_ at me? What the hell was _that_ about?

' _Curious.'_

"That's a little more than curious, Khana," I hissed. The other members of Altosk were still passing by.

"This is bad." I turned back to where Karol was whimpering.

Rita looked more frustrated than worried. "And it looks like he's forgotten all about talking with us."

"I don't think the Don's in much of a talking mood right now," Yuri commented drily.

"You don't say," I said, sliding up next to the little mage. "I'm still surprised he even wanted to talk in the first place."

Estelle was frantic and didn't catch the annoyed look Yuri was giving me. "I have to return to the empire and find out what's really going on!"

"Estelle, that would take days. I don't think we have that kind of time." And if the Don was serious about shooting the messenger, _Flynn_ didn't have that kind of time.

"I said hang on." Yuri wasn't having her impatience either. "We should sit still for now and see what happens. If we mess this up, we'll only make things worse for Flynn."

"I … I suppose you're right. I just can't believe that Ioder would give a letter like that to Flynn. There has to be some mistake!"

"Yeah, uh, that's not the letter we had when we got here."

I blinked as the rest of our group whirled on the familiar voice. Liam waved sheepishly. I exchanged a quick glance with Yuri, who was hiding his surprise much better than I was. How the hell did none of us notice that he was still here?

"Hi."

"But you heard the letter – it said to take Don Whitehorse out of the picture!" Karol's face was screwed up as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"So maybe," Yuri said, "it was sent by someone who wants to throw a wrench in what Flynn and Ioder are doing." He looked to Liam, who nodded profusely.

"There are a lot of people, both in the knights and in the council, who don't support the idea of making peace with the guilds. I'm sure there are some guilds who feel the same way about making peace with the knights."

"But that's nothing more than a hunch right now," Rita, ever the voice of logic stepped in.

Yuri sighed. "Yeah, you're right. The only thing we know for sure right now is that Flynn is in trouble. Let's get out of here. As much as I want to help, I don't want to stick around if the Don decides to take his anger out on someone else."

We all agreed on that notion, and Karol led the way out of the headquarter building. There was something in the forced calm surrounding Yuri that had me anxious. Khana apparently agreed, and was vibrating, restless in the back of my mind.

We were halfway to the main square when I addressed it. "You're going to do something impulsive, aren't you."

The others were either a few paces ahead or a few paces behind, and I'd spoken quiet enough that they wouldn't hear unless they were listening for it.

"Probably."

I sighed dramatically. "And after all that talk of patience and not rushing in. You're setting a wonderful example, Lowell."

"Scout, I –"

"Just don't get yourself killed," I cut back in with a flippant wave of my hand. He was taking me too seriously, I wasn't trying to lecture him. "Karol would probably start crying, and we both know that I am not equipped to handle that."

That got me a smirk. Finally. "What, the babysitter can't handle a few tears?"

I rolled my eyes good – naturedly. That joke was getting old, but the familiarity eased my mind a bit. "Just be careful, okay? I'm not taking care of Repede if you decide to kick the bucket."

"Yeah. You too, Scout."

He left us as soon as we reached the center of the town square, under the ruse of a lost wallet. Nobody really reacted to his lame excuse, which had me shaking my head. What a gullible group we were.

Khana nudged me.

"What?" It was either that or they had all reasoned their way through his train of thought like I had, and given Karol and Estelle's reactions I was going to assume that they hadn't.

She sighed. _'Never mind it.'_

We spent the next hour or so wandering around the city after Estelle, who was intent on healing every injured person she could find. I stayed on the outskirts on what could be considered our group's personal bubble, content to stay far away from the healing artes and random conversations. Liam and Karol had hit it off and had been chewing each other's ears off for the past fifteen minutes before I caved and tuned in.

"Okay, but like, you're biased! You grew up in Dhangrest so of course you're partial to guild life."

"So? You just said you grew up in Zaphias, how much more biased toward the Empire could you be?"

Liam snorted. "Fair point. You sure you don't want to hop the fence and join up? You could be my travel buddy! You'd be perfect for espionage, just imagine all of the secrets we could hide in your hair!"

Karol rolled his eyes, but then smiled and shook his head. "I want to protect what's important to me in my own way. I want to play by my own rules." He blinked up into the sky, thoughtful. "That's why I want to start my own guild."

"Huh. Alright then, so we agree to disagree."

I huffed under my breath. That was a rather diplomatic resolution coming from a knight.

"Well, I don't think we disagree at all! Not really, at least," Karol said slowly. "We both want things to change, and we're doing our best to make that happen. Just because we go about it in different ways doesn't mean that we disagree or that we can't get along. It just means that we're a little different, is all."

There was a part of me that felt oddly proud listening to him explain away the distance between Liam and himself. He acted so mature sometimes that I forgot how young he actually was.

Liam seemed to be of similar though to me because he scooped the boy up in a hug and ruffled his hair. "Glad you see it that way, Karol!"

As the two squabbled, Khana directed my attention back toward the main plaza with a light nudge in the back of my mind. I blinked, trying to make sense of the swirling mass of color.

' _It would appear that they are mobilizing an army.'_

"That is … not what I was hoping you were going to show me."

' _What, did you think Lowell was back from his little tryst?'_ She huffed _. 'My apologies for the disappointment, but I cannot control the actions of these humans.'_

"Does that mean that there _are_ humans you can control?" I was genuinely curious, and also not particularly in the mood to interrupt the rest of my companions. The past hour or so had been blissfully uneventful, and alerting them to the escalating situation would put everyone into a frenzy, and then things would get decidedly more eventful.

I just wanted a few more moments of peace.

' _In this form, there is precious little I can do.'_

"That's not a no."

' _Did I say yes?'_ she sniffed. _'It would be unwise of you to assume that I mean yes when I did not explicitly affirm in either direction. This is how people end up dead, Child.'_

"Could you stop being melodramatic for six seconds and jusr give me a straight answer for once in your life?"

' _You're stalling.'_

I barked out a laugh. "And since it seems we're pointing out the obvious today: you're being vague. All I asked for was a one word answer, but _apparently_ that's too much for the great 'Lady Khana.'" I scoffed and crossed my arms. "Queen of the Spirits my ass, you can't even answer a simple question."

' _I would suggest you drop the sarcasm and do something productive. Preferably before we are caught in the middle of a war, hmm?'_

I pouted. She didn't take the bait to argue any longer, too intent to stay on task. I ghosted over and bumped shoulders with Rita. At her puzzled glance, I nodded at the swarming mass of bodies in the distance.

"What the _hell_? Are they really planning to go to war over this?"

Her screeching drew the attention of the others, and I slid back into the shadow of the building we'd taken up residence beside. Delta came back from wherever she had gotten off to and was nosing impatiently at the side of my knee. I rubbed her ears distractedly, for once more attentive to my human companions than my partner.

"Well the Don isn't someone you say no to, Rita," Karol said nervously. "He declared _war_. He wouldn't joke about something this serious."

"This is horrible," Estelle whispered into her hands. "There has to be something we can do!"

Liam was backing away from the plaza slowly. "Look, the best we can do right now is stay out of it. You guys aren't a guild and I'm a knight. If we get in their way right now, there's no telling what they'll do to us."

"You're running away?"

He rolled his eyes at the mage with a sigh. "It's not running away. It's being smart enough to know when to sit back, gather information, and regroup. We need a plan that's better than Estelle trying to talk peace to a bunch of armed barbarians with enough bloodlust to level the continent."

I'd never heard Rita so effectively silenced in the time I'd known her. I slowly raised my hands and clapped softly to myself. Khana's laughter echoed around my skull and I smirked.

Delta was still trying to get my attention, and I finally dropped to one knee beside her when she nipped at my ankles. She'd never done that before. The others continued discussing options as I tapped my partner's nose.

"Okay, okay, you've got me. What's the deal?"

She chirped at me and tossed her head before dancing away a few steps with a meaningful look in her yellow eyes.

' _She would like for you to follow her.'_

"I didn't realize we were still pointing out the obvious," I bit back under my breath.

' _I can never tell with you, my dear. You are not adept at picking up on social cues.'_

I rolled my eyes as I stood. "Just because I don't care about them doesn't mean I don't pick up on them."

"Wait, I've seen those guys before."

Karol's soft exclamation had my head whipping his way. While he had been chatting with random guildsmen all afternoon, there was something in his voice that had me on edge. I had a feeling that this wasn't going to be a friendly encounter.

' _I stand corrected.'_

Following his gaze, I could barely make out the symbol on the sleeves of their dark leather jackets before they disappeared into some back alleyway. Two battle axes, facing one another in opposing directions.

"The Blood Alliance."

Delta huffed at my realization and I spared her a glance. She tossed her head again and started trotting after them, nose to the ground. I sighed. That's why she was trying to get my attention. She'd run into them and wanted to track their movements.

My cat was brilliant.

"Rita, with me," I called out, making a split – second decision. "We're tailing them. The rest of you, find Yuri if you can. We'll regroup and talk options once we meet up again."

I didn't look to see if she was behind me as I followed Delta into the darkness. Either way was fine with me.

* * *

Maybe twenty minutes later, Delta and I were crouched behind a wooden desk in what had looked like an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. We'd tracked the guildsmen across the city and had managed to sneak behind them into what turned out to be their headquarter building. We'd opted to leave Rita outside as a lookout. She was a little too hot – headed for scouting the place out, and Delta and I had done this before.

I chuckled under my breath. As much as I hated to admit it, Yuri's nickname had me pegged.

From what I could tell, Barbos and Ragou were in the middle of an argument over the stolen blastia cores. I'd ended up somewhere behind the crooked magistrate and had a clear view of the scarred guildsmen as a prize. He was not a pretty sight.

"You went and built a damned tower and didn't think to inform your employer? You make me question why I even hired you in the first place!"

Barbos didn't seem interested in Ragou's flustered screeching. "I gathered the cores, just as you requested. What I do with the extra is up to me. I'm not your lapdog."

"You even went so far as to bring in Leviathan's Claw behind my back," Ragou seethed. "I suppose this is what I get for trusting a _guild_ to handle my work."

Oh boy. Those were fighting words.

But Barbos just glanced over lazily and chuckled, raising slowly from his chair. The golden orb that was his left hand spun slowly, gears shifting and popping as spikes appeared along the sides. The head of the Blood Alliance towered over the councilman, a snake ready to strike.

"I would be careful with your tone, Magistrate," he smiled coldly. "That guild you're talking about ain't called the Blood Alliance for nothin'. It would be a shame for the council to suddenly have a vacant seat, what with tensions so high in regards to the next Emperor." Ragou was downright quaking where he stood. I hugged Delta to my chest. "You will leave now."

"Black – hearted filth," Ragou had the gall to spit back. Man had a backbone after all. "You will get what you deserve. People like you always do in the end!"

"You're one to talk, Ragou!"

My blood ran cold. That wasn't Barbos' voice. I peeked further around my crate and sighed deeply. Of course.

"So you're the cause of all of this chaos!"

I wanted so badly to go over there and slap my hand over Estelle's pretty little mouth. She and Yuri were standing in front of Barbos' desk, Rita and Karol falling into rank behind them. Liam wasn't with them, which didn't quite surprise me, given his position, but I figured he would have been able to talk some sort of sense into these idiots.

' _Like not barging into an unknown building when your scout is still gathering information?'_

"That would be a start," I ground out through my teeth. Even if nobody else cared about secrecy, I didn't want to give up my location just yet. I would if things got ugly, of course, but I was content to wait it out in the meantime.

"You brats got nothin', you'll never manage to take me down."

That wasn't entirely true. I'd just heard him conspiring with a member of the Imperial Council, which I'm sure wouldn't go over well with the Don. Not that he'd needed an excuse to rough Barbos up a little, if memory served. He'd likely punch first, ask questions later like he had with Flynn.

But Rita was challenging his reasoning, and Yuri cut in before Barbos had the opportunity to answer.

"A villain is someone who never considers losing a possibility. That's why he thinks the way he does."

I had to scoff at that. He was trying so hard to sound serious, but he just sounded like a bad fortune cookie. I nudged Delta. I had a sarcastic response, which meant it was time for our debut.

I slid quietly onto the top of the desk, propping my elbow on my raised knee, opting for a more casual entrance. Delta was a bit more dramatic and leapt from our hiding place with a snarl, teeth bared and belly to the floor at Ragou's heels. The magistrate shrieked and skirted out of our way.

All eyes were on us and I smirked, confidently meeting everyone's eyes before landing on a certain man. "If that's true," I said, picking up where the conversation had left off as though I'd been a part of it the whole time, "you're quite the villain then, Lowell."

Yuri didn't miss a beat, only placed a hand on his hip and flashed a grin. "Yeah, I'm nefarious."

Karol cut in, pointing an accusing finger in my direction. "Hey, how long were you planning on hiding back there?"

I rolled my eyes and pulled the dagger from my boot, fiddling with the point. "Oh please, you didn't even know I was there."

"Not our fault you disappeared on us," Rita sniffed. "Time wasn't exactly on our side so we decided not to wait for you."

"Sure." That was fair, I suppose. "I mean, it would have been nice to know that subtlety isn't our strong suit _before_ I spent the last half an hour in a confined space, but whatever."

I didn't miss the sharp gaze Barbos had snapped in my direction. I met it head on, full of false bravado. He knew that I'd heard his conversation and he was _not_ pleased.

"Although," I drawled, sliding easily off the desk and thinking back a few minutes, "maybe the 'losing isn't an option' mindset is just confidence. Being a villain is more like having the audacity to think that there's not even a fight in the first place."

I'd drawn my sword as I spoke, letting the quiet hiss of steel bolster my words, and I was staring Barbos down the length of the rapier as I finished. The atmosphere grew tense, and I could see Yuri's hands twitching in my peripherals. He was itching for a fight.

In all honesty, so was I.

My ability to keep a level head was something I'd always prided myself on, but I always had a short temper when it came to the strong taking from the weak. And Barbos and Ragou were plenty strong in their respective circles of influence – and Barbos physically too – that their string of core thefts was unacceptable. They had to be taken down a peg or two. I rolled my wrist.

But _fuck_ , I'd forgotten that I was still stuck with the rapier. This twig against that boulder attached to his hand? This was not going to end well as I thought.

' _Pull yourself together, Child,'_ Khana chastised. _'Show no weakness. He doesn't know, so do not allow your body language to give it away.'_

I took a steadying breath as Barbos laughed deeply. "You would dare oppose me? I thought I told you before: the next time you won't get off so easy."

"I must have missed that memo because I do dare," I responded easily, falling back on sarcasm as a defense.

The guild boss nodded at his goons and gave a toothy grin. "Your existence here has come to an end. No matter what, you won't be able to stop the bloodshed!"

Yuri's game face slid into place. "We'll see."

And just like that, it started.

A quick headcount let me know that there were eight guildsmen, plus Barbos and Ragou. The councilman didn't worry me in a fight, which meant there were three in my immediate vicinity and five separating me from the rest of my companions. As much as I hated to admit it, I couldn't handle all of these men on my own at once – they were guild members, and part of one of the five master guilds at that. It would be suicide to try.

I needed help, which meant I could either fight my way over to where Yuri and the others were or try and hold my ground and hope that they would fight their way over to me.

I eyed the nearest member of the Blood Alliance warily, watching as he drew his own sword. Hope wasn't a strategy. At least, not a viable one at any rate, which meant I'd have to work quickly and efficiently to make my way across the room.

The man I'd chosen as my first target waved his friends off with a flippant wave, telling them to make themselves useful somewhere else. I was his.

I smirked. He'd regret that choice. He grinned wildly back, and we started to dance.

It wasn't a very exciting dance, to be honest. I left him slumped on the floor clutching at his shoulder where I'd carved a chunk out. He wouldn't be getting back up again soon if the look on his face was anything to go by.

As luck would have it, Yuri and I had fought our respective ways to the center of the room, making my job of getting to a friendly face much easier. He'd mowed through two of the guildsmen and was working on a third when I snuck in and scored a hit across the man's thigh while he was occupied with some of Yuri's flashier feints.

"Nice of you to join the party," he said breezily, sliding out of my way to take stock of the others. Delta and Repede were working in tandem, as were Estelle and Rita. Karol was moving between the two groups, providing a distraction or a critical hit when necessary.

"Oh, please," I tossed over my shoulder as one of the last two goons made his way over to take on our black swordsman. "The party started the second I walked in."

Whatever smart response he had was cut off by the song of steel on steel, and we fell into a comfortable silence as we battled our respective opponents.

Well, not exactly. We sort of tag teamed our way through the next few minutes, switching on and off with a meaningful glance or a sharp breath instead of words. Fighting side by side with Yuri always felt so fluid and natural, and his confidence was contagious. I found myself more sure of my movements and my attacks than I had ever been with the rapier. It was nice.

"Ha, those fools are already starting to march!" cracked the whip of Barbos' voice. "That meddlesome Don and the knights will destroy each other at last."

"He's trying to destroy the Union and take down the Don!" shouted Karol from across the room.

"If the knights are destroyed, who will protect the empire?" I heard Estelle gasp in response. "Ragou, why would you –"

Rita scoffed and the aer around her twisted sharply. "He's going to weaken the Imperial Knights so the council can step in and he can run the empire."

I grit my teeth and rolled to dodge an oncoming attack. Barbos was going to upset the order of things and get a lot of people hurt in the process, and for what? His own personal gain?

' _Greed is a powerful motivator for you humans.'_

"I mean yeah," I huffed, "but would the guilds actually follow this guy if they knew what he's trying to do? I thought Karol said they loved the Don."

"But the Blood Alliance is one of the five Master Guilds," Yuri responded tightly. I didn't realize that he'd heard me. He danced out of his opponent's range, smirking as the point of a sword flew harmlessly past his face. "And I'm not sure they'd care who it is, as long as somebody's in charge."

"Point taken." We fell back into a tense silence as the few remaining guild members refused to go down.

Estelle had apparently made her way to the window to watch the advancing armies on the distant field, because she gasped dramatically a few moments later. "It's Flynn!"

"So he made it back after all," Yuri grinned next to me, chest heaving slightly. Barbos had whirled at the princess's exclamation, and his subordinates backed off a few paces to see what was happening for themselves.

"How the hell did he get all the way…" I trailed off, trying to do math in my head. There was no way he could get all the way back to Heliord and Ioder and back in time to explain everything, fix it, and come back. We'd only been on the clock for two hours. Unless… "Please tell me that the Imperial forces weren't marching here the same time we were coming from the harbor. Armor isn't exactly quiet, I feel like we would have known." And why would they have sent Flynn and Liam ahead if they were already mobilizing? None of this was adding up.

The swordsman sighed deeply. "Flynn said it was possible that a letter similar to the one the Don got was given to the knights too. They probably got theirs when we were in the forest."

Huh. That didn't answer everything, but it cleared away some of the confusion. "I thought the Commandant would be smarter than that. The letters were clearly forged, weren't they?"

"Does it matter?" he countered easily. "The knights aren't exactly the peacekeepers they're made out to be. If it's a fight they want, they'll get it one way or another."

"Damn that Ragou," Barbos seethed, cutting our conversation short. "He didn't keep up our end of the bargain. Take the pest down!"

One of the guildsmen ran to the window holding a long – range rifle – where the hell did he pick that up? – and started taking careful aim out the window. Estelle, still looking out her own window, looked appalled and started to move on the man.

 _That_ was not going to end well for her.

Before the rest of us could react, Karol's battle axe – because of course he traded in his hammer for something sharper – flew past and buried itself in the man's hand, effectively severing it from the rest of the limb. He went down in a flash of red, screaming and clutching at the bleeding stump with his good hand. The rifle lay in pieces at his knees, and Karol made a triumphant noise.

"Got 'im!"

I gaped. "Holy hell, remind me to stop teasing him."

"Nice shot, Karol!" Yuri praised.

There was suddenly a sharp twist in the aer that set Khana on so on edge that she screeched into the back of my mind. I turned in the direction she was pushing me toward and just stared.

"Hot damn, where is everyone getting these giant guns from?" I said under my breath. Barbos held his own rifle looking device in his human hand, blastia glowing a brilliant blue as it whirred to life.

' _Destroy it,'_ Khana seethed. _'The formula it is utilizing is upsetting the aer.'_

I actually took a step backwards. That thing was charging up and I didn't particularly want to be on the receiving end of whatever it let loose. "Didn't know that aer had feelings."

' _Now is not the time to be smart with me Isadora.'_ Ooh, she was mad. I apologized under my breath and dove out of the way as the thing fired.

I hit the ground hard, a searing heat tearing at my back. A startled yell and a heavy weight on my legs had me twisting to look backwards a moment later and my heart stuttered at what I saw.

It was one of the member of the Blood Alliance, though the only way I could recognize him was the charred emblem on his jacket. But he was burned so beyond recognition that I couldn't tell which of the men he was. Not that it really mattered anymore because he was dead.

I flailed my legs a little in an attempt to get out from under him. He was _definitely_ dead if the limp swaying of his limbs had anything to say about it. Barbos had killed him. He had killed one of his own men trying to kill us.

I … I didn't know how I was supposed to react.

Part of me was relieved. One less person standing between us and ending the ring of core thefts, right?

But he was still _human_. He had had a life and a purpose, and had probably joined a guild with good intentions, and his boss had just _murdered_ him to stop a bunch of _kids_. Was the core thing Barbos was working on really worth that? Sure, we had been fighting before and he _had_ to have known what he was getting into when he joined in the first place, but I hadn't been trying to _kill_ him. I hadn't killed his guild mate earlier either, just beat him up enough to convince him it was in his best interests to sit down and stay down.

But Barbos had killed this man without a second thought. Just collateral damage.

What the hell was _wrong_ with people?

There was also a small part of my brain that was panicking because there was a dead body pinning me to the floor, but I tried to drown it out. Khana's heavy presence grounded me enough to keep my cool.

The spirit gently prodded me to move, informing me that the room was burning and that I would burn with it if I stayed where I was. I tried not to think of the burnt corpse still smoking on my legs as I struggled to get out from under it without touching it.

I didn't stand up right away once I got myself free. Instead, I stayed low to the ground and surveyed the scene.

The room was, in fact, on fire. I was over by the large open windows again, which was nice because of the breeze that carried fresh air in and the thick black smoke out. But what was not nice was the fact that everyone else was across the room and on the opposite side of the flames that licked at the ground.

I suppose I could go out the window and try to find them all again once they got out, but another sharp pull of aer had me wondering if we would even all make it out in one piece.

Barbos was preparing to fire again.

My hand clenched around my sword. I was easily the closest to the man, and in his blind spot. If I could just _get_ there in time –

But the universe seemed to decide that we had been through enough for one day and gave us a brief glance into the lives of the lucky.

The dragon rider arrived in a burst of blue and a shrill cry from the window behind me. I forced myself to relax as they swept across the room and took out Barbos' weapon for us, effectively slicing the thing in half with a halberd.

I heard Barbos' startled "What the hell?" at the same time Khana shrieked in my mind, forcing me back to my knees.

"Can you please stop doing that?" I groaned, rubbing at my temples. "I hate it when you do that."

The spirit huffed. _'I so not tell you to stop conversing with your comrades, please do not tell me to stop conversing with mine.'_

"Conversing with your what?" I held up my hands in surrender. "You know what, nope. I don't want to know right now, tell me later. Can you just converse a little quieter? You know, in a way that doesn't melt my brain?"

I didn't get a response, but the shrieking stopped so I counted it as a win in my column.

"I'm gonna make you wish you hadn't done that." That was Barbos again. When I turned, he had pulled out – okay, that was a chainsaw. He had to have some sort of pocket dimension formula somewhere on him like I had with my backpack, because there is no way he was hiding that thing anywhere else.

He held it vertically above his head with a wicked grin, and the blastia at the center of the whirring chains sparked ominously.

"You've got to be _fucking_ kidding me."

"What? He can fly?" Karol said what we were all thinking and a laugh found its way up and out of my chest before I could stop it.

"I mean sure, because that makes sense."

'… _No it doesn't.'_

"I'm not – whatever." Of all the times for her to not pick up on sarcasm.

Barbos was gone. Yuri leapt through the flames as soon as the guild boss booked it for the open windows, but wasn't quick enough to stop him. Which, if I could be frank, wasn't the worst thing. I didn't know if we could really take him down right now. Not after spending all day at Keiv Moc and dealing with the monster attack on the city before that. We were all on our last legs.

I stood and made my way over to him. My hand found his upper arm after a moment of hesitation, and I nodded when he turned to me. His eyes were burning. "We'll get him. He cant run away and hide forever."

The dragon rider, who Rita had yet to murder, moved into our field of view, hovering just outside of reach. I saw them roll their shoulders and adjust their grip on their halberd in preparation to leave.

"If you're going after him, let me come with you. We're a little short on wings around here."

I turned, startled. "Wait, what?"

"No matter what, I've got to catch that guy," Yuri said over his shoulder, taking the dragon rider's hand and pulling himself up.

Karol had apparently worked his way through the fire and was _not_ having any of that. "What about us?"

"You guys hold down the fort here. Scout's in charge, stay out of trouble!"

Hands on the ledge, I tried to call him back to us. "Damn it Yuri, we all want to catch him, but you can't just –"

"I'm counting on you." The intensity in his voice made me hesitate, which he apparently took as acceptance. They were gone the next moment, heading for the horizon after the chainsaw wielding maniac.

"I hate my life."

* * *

I've decided to do a lot of smaller side conversations in that companion piece I'll be posting at some point. The conversation between Yuri and Is at the beginning of this chapter is one of those.

-Han


	15. Chapter 15

Huge thank you's to _CallmeCrazylol_ , _SaRan1999, 2 Lazy 2 Sign In,_ and _Pogo_ for reviewing! Also, thank you to _Ruler of the elements_ for following and favoriting, and _blackrockx_ for favoriting!

 _2 Lazy 2 Sign In_ : Oh, everybody has an angle. Khana may not be human, but she's no different.

 _Pogo:_ You are legitimately going to make me cry, that hits my heart so much to hear, thank you thank you! Khana is great, and her purpose will slowly become clearer the further we get. Scout's purpose will as well.

* * *

The Don was less than pleased with us when we dragged ourselves back to the Union Headquarters.

Karol was hiding behind me, trying in vain to avoid the blank stare the guild boss was leveling at us as we explained what happened. Well, as Estelle _tried_ to explain. Rita was mouthing off about the dragon rider again and I was too preoccupied with staring at the sky any praying to everything I did and did not believe in for patience.

I was _so_ not equipped to be babysitter. This joke had gotten old days ago and now was just annoying. The next time anyone mentioned it, I was going to smack them into next week.

I just wanted to go sit down for like, twenty minutes before someone called on us to clean up another mess. It felt like forever since we had a minute to ourselves to just relax. We'd been moving almost nonstop since I'd joined this motley crew of misfits back in Halure, and that had been weeks ago.

Man, why was this taking so long? We were normally better at talking our way out of situations, or at least causing enough of a thought provoking distraction that we could sneak out while the other party's attention was elsewhere. So what were we missing?

' _Oh, please tell me you do not miss that silver-tongued ruffian,_ ' Khana scoffed.

I almost gagged when I realized that she was right.

I missed Yuri.

He was always so good at dealing with the eccentricities of our little group, taking everything in stride without batting an eye. Briefly, I wondered if he had siblings. It would make sense – he teased Karol and Rita with a sort of practiced ease, but he was also kind enough to hear them out and build them up when they needed it.

But he'd never mentioned anything about a brother or sister. He hadn't said anything about his family at all. In fact, none of us had. Not really. My father had come up once or twice in conversation, but I'd silenced those questions pretty quick. I didn't want to think about him right now.

Man, we were a mess of family issues, weren't we.

Still, the thought of Yuri with a little brother on his shoulders or a little sister putting bows in his hair made me smile. I held on to it as Khana nudged me back into the present.

"Well, I suppose that blondie kept up his end of the bargain but I would have liked to get a bit more use out of him…" The Don stroked his beard in thought. "Never mind that. Any ideas where they might be headed?"

"They were talking about some kind of tower before they attacked, maybe there?" I said with a shrug. I didn't know how Barbos's mind worked, so it was impossible to tell exactly he would run off to. He could be halfway across the continent by now if he had enough power in that chainsaw thing.

"Tower, ya say? Huh, so the old goat finally got Ghasfarost up and running, did he?"

I blinked. "Wait, you knew he was building that thing?

"He wasn't exactly quiet about it, kid."

"Which means you knew about the cores he was stealing to fund his little construction project." I'd be the first to admit that that was a bit of a stretch. Just because he knew what Barbos had been up to didn't necessarily mean that he knew everything about it.

But silence stretched on as he held my gaze, not defending himself.

"Don Whitehorse..?" came Karol's small voice from behind me. Poor kid looked like a kicked puppy as I lit into his idol.

"And it didn't cross your mind to, I don't know, _stop_ him?" I was doing my best to keep a tight leash on my anger, but it was bubbling beneath my skin, ready to spill out.

"Unbelievable." At least Rita was on my side. She was seething, fists clenched tight as aer coiled lazily around them in response.

The Don only sighed, apparently unimpressed with the righteous anger of a couple of kids. "Look, yer upset and I get that. But what you've gotta understand about guilds is that relationships are everything. Especially between the Five Master Guilds. If I led Altosk against the Blood Alliance, others would see it as the weakening of the Union as a whole."

"You're saying there would be a power struggle."

Karol chimed in as he started to put the pieces together too. "And if the guilds are fighting with each other, the empire could come in and kick us while we're down." He sounded horrified.

The Don held his hands out. "My hands were tied, kid. As much as I wanted to put an end to that smuggling ring, I had to think about the collateral damage a civil war would cause. Innocent lives hang in the balance, and they depend on us, on the peace the Union maintains, to keep them safe."

Khana huffed, but she felt more impressed than annoyed. I mean, the man had a valid point. The loss of Yuri's aque core didn't make life any easier for the Lower Quarter, but they'd still had the barrier blastia keeping them safe. Nobody had died in its absence. Probably.

"Alright." Rita shot me a pointed look, but I took a slow breath and let my anger dissolve. "So what now?"

"Your man is chasing after him now, ain't he?"

He was, and he wasn't affiliated with a guild, which meant the Union had no part in whatever happened next. If Barbos was killed by an outsider, it was because of his own weakness. Guild members risked their lives every day for the sake of the while, and this would be no different than countless other deaths.

And if Yuri were killed… Well, we were probably the only ones who would care.

I shuddered, suddenly feeling very small.

"But he's only one person!" Estelle cried, bringing me back. "He could get hurt going up against Barbos by himself!"

"Yeah, that idiot's going to get himself killed without us to help him." Rita crossed her arms and glared at anybody who was unfortunate enough to be looking in her direction.

"Let's go get him!" Karol cheered.

"Do you know where Ghasfarost is, Karol?" The boy deflated at Estelle's innocently whispered question. I hid a smirk behind my hand, clearing my throat to conceal a laugh.

"Don Whitehorse." I tried to adopt Yuri's I'm-in-charge tone and convinced myself that I came close enough. I had his attention, at least. "I'd appreciate if you'd tell us the way to Ghasfarost. Yuri isn't the only one with a score to settle."

' _Yes, he is. He quite literally is. Barbos didn't steal anything from the rest of you.'_

"Hush, you," I bit through clenched teeth.

The head of the Union studied us carefully, almost as if he was searching for something. Whatever it was, he must have found it, for he nodded to himself several times before waving a hand.

"Raven here knows the way. He can take you."

"Who – me?" Raven, who had been lounging on the ground behind the Don, straightened at the sound of his name. "But, Whitehorse, come on. I thought I was your right-hand man? How're you gonna survive without your right-hand man?"

The Don leveled a tired look at his subordinate and shook his head. "Somehow I think I'll manage without your sorry ass around here for a few days."

Raven deflated. With a dramatic sigh, he dragged himself toward us and grumbled under his breath about needing a nap.

Estelle and Karol thanked the Don as we turned to leave. Delta wove her way between my legs, her presence calming me more than Khana's familiar weight in the back of my mind. I was still a bit on edge, but we were going after Yuri and Barbos. Even if the others hadn't been able to read between the lines, we'd just been given permission to kill the boss of a Major Guild. We were going to put an end to the core thefts and get the Lower Quarter's aque blastia back.

This was it, this was the last step. We were almost done.

I could go home soon.

I hadn't thought about Halure in a while. It was late into spring now, the tree would begin to shed its petals soon, trading them for the equally beautiful pink leaves. It would be the first Vernal Festival I'd miss since I'd moved back. I'd miss the lantern lighting and the flower crowns and the bonfires. I'd miss my neighbors drinking too much and singing too loud and laughing too hard, and I'd miss the beauty of the quiet sunrise the following morning.

Even if we could get to Ghasfarost and stop Barbos in a matter of days, Dahngrest was an entire continent away from the sleepy town of Halure. I'd never get there in time for the festival.

I tried to convince myself that it was okay, that I wasn't homesick.

Khana whispered that I failed.

"On second thought…" The lazy baritone of the Don's voice cut its way through my thoughts and I turned slowly. His face was guarded, but his tone was almost mischievous as he stroked his white beard.

The others were already halfway out the door when he spoke, and only paused in their chattering when they realized I wasn't behind them anymore. I raised an eyebrow at the Don and there was something in the way he held himself that had me nervous.

"On second thought, Raven has a point, so let's make it a fair trade. You kids can take the old man to Ghasfarost, while you," he nodded at me, "can stay here and help me wrangle the trigger-happy idiots in the streets still looking for a fight."

Karol and Rita immediately started arguing and Delta whined lowly at my side.

I wasn't happy with his suggestion either. I didn't want to stay in the den of guilds any longer than I had to. Tensions were clearly still running high since we had just narrowly avoided a flat-out _war_ , and the longer I stayed, the more chances my familial ties had to sneak out into the open. And if people were as blood thirsty as the Don was suggesting, that would not bode well for me.

But if me staying behind gave Yuri a better chance to get his core back, I could handle it.

"Fine by me."

"Wait, what?"

Rita scoffed, but fidgeted nervously. "Please, Isadora, you can't be serious. You're coming with us."

"Isa, are you sure?" I turned to Estelle, the only calm voice in the room.

"You want to help Yuri, don't you?" She nodded. "Then I'll be fine hanging out here while you guys do that."

The Don chuckled. "Good, so we have a deal then. Raven, why don't you take the kids to Arcturus for the night. Get a few hours of shut eye before ya take off."

Raven nodded absently and started shooing the others out the door. I started to follow, but a sharp cough had me hesitating.

"Not so fast, sweetheart." The Don rose and stretched, cracking his back loudly. "You and I have some work to do yet."

I blinked slowly. He wanted me to start _now_? I went back in my memory to try and remember the last time I'd slept. As soon as he'd mentioned the Inn, the edges of my vision had gone fuzzy – it had been a long day and I was tired. All I wanted to do was curl up and sleep for a few days straight.

But I wasn't trying to argue with the Don, so I brushed my braid off my shoulder and turned to where Raven was still trying to corral my companions out the door.

"Estelle's in charge while I'm gone."

"I think you mean ol' _Raven's_ in charge, don'tcha darlin'? I am the lady's escort, after all." He made a show of bowing deeply to the princess.

I pretended to think about it for a few moments, then looked him directly in the eye. "Estelle is in charge. I'll see you when you bring the core back."

* * *

I woke up the next morning to Delta's cold nose in my neck. Groaning, I shoved her head away from mine and tried to bury my face back into my pillow. She huffed and circled around to my legs where she started kneading the blankets. I ignored her as best I could, which was no easy feat considering her claws were digging through the fabric and latching onto my skin.

I sat up. "Are you serious. Do you have to do that right now."

She blinked, the perfect picture of innocence, and tilted her head to the side.

"I know, you're adorable. Now get off."

She didn't get off, choosing instead to pounce. My shoulders were driven back onto the mattress and we landed in a sort of hug with her front paws around my head and her face buried into the side of my neck. I rolled my eyes and reached up to scratch along her spine.

"If you wanted to cuddle all you had to do was ask," I breathed. Delta wasn't huge by any means, but she wasn't exactly small either. She was thin and wiry, every bit the muscular hunter she was born to be. Her body was curled into my torso and the upper parts of my thighs, tail tickling my toes as it flitted back and forth. Sometimes she got so needy that I swear she forgets that she wasn't a housecat, which can be cute when it wasn't also inconvenient.

This was one of those inconvenient moments. She was crushing my chest.

"Delta get off, I'm going to suffocate," I wheezed, pushing at her face. She whined and nipped at my fingers. "Dude, seriously. Get up so I can get up and be a productive member of society."

' _Interesting. I would have thought you against being productive for this society as it is not your own.'_

I made a noncommittal noise in the back of my throat as my cat finally decided that she liked me better alive than dead. She took up residence on the end of the bed, right in the spot where the sunlight had found its way past the curtains.

"Just because I'm not in a guild doesn't mean I won't help them when they ask. Contrary to popular belief, I can be a nice person when I want to be."

' _I shall believe it when I see it.'_

"Unnecessary, but whatever."

It was late morning by the time I found my way back to the Union building. The Don handed me a list, pushed me at one of his subordinates, and shooed me out of his way to run some errands of his. Mostly dragging back more rogue guild members to have some sense knocked back into them – a war would benefit absolutely nobody, regardless of what they thought or how badly they were itching for a fight.

It was our job to knock that wisdom into their thick skulls. And if they put up a fight? Well, the Don had a nice little place in the jail for them until they saw things our way.

We worked our way through the list rather quickly. Apparently word was getting around that we were coming, and people were turning themselves in so they wouldn't have to face the embarrassment of being dragged back to the Union. And Marita, the women I was with, was actually physically dragging some of the men behind her. I stood back and watched her, amused. Khana couldn't stop laughing.

Altosk, as I soon learned, was an interesting guild. While some guilds were in the business of killing things, causing terror, and just being nuisances to the rest of the general public, Altosk was at the head of the Guild Union for a reason. They were organized and efficient, and people listened to them. They got things _done_.

Speaking of done, the men Marita had an iron grip on were the last two on our list for the day. We dropped them off at the foot of the Don and with a nod and a pleased smirk, we were told to take the rest of the day for ourselves.

The guildswoman and I had been civil with one another since the Don had assigned me to be her shadow, so we walked out of the Headquarter building together with matching grins. There was something about having someone like her around that brought out a more fun-loving side of me.

I thought back to the way we'd shared laughter over the pleas of men we were leaving to the mercy of the Don. Or maybe that was my sadistic side.

Same difference.

Marita led us to a secluded little area on the east side of the town, and we snagged one of the picnic benches near where the cobbled alley turned to grass. We'd grabbed lunch from one of the nearby pubs, and she tossed me a fork once we were both settled.

We chatted a while about random topics, and I smiled more in those moments than I had in a while. It felt good to let loose, to not have to worry about keeping up appearances or keep my composure. I got to be free for a while, and it was nice.

It was a good day.

"Hey, Izzy!"

"Good feeling's gone," I groaned to myself. Of course it was too good to last.

'Jinxed that one yourself, dear.'

I hissed at her to shut up.

"Mind if I join you ladies?" He sat down before I could really answer, placing his own lunch on the table and sliding up on the bench next to my companion without a care in the world. Marita didn't pay him much mind, focus instead back on the curry in front of her.

Just like that, two became three and I was back to being a brick wall.

It was quiet for a few minutes, and the awkward silence was slowly suffocating me. Liam and Marita seemed unaffected by the tension and were both eating calmly, but Delta's tail was flitting back and forth in a manner that let me know she felt it too.

"This is weird."

Marita and Liam exchanged bemused looks. The knight took a sip of his water and heavily against Marita's side. "What's so strange about it, Is?"

"Yeah, can't a couple of friends have lunch together in peace?" Marita was giggling.

I blinked, then shrugged. "Guess I didn't know you two were friends. Or that you actually knew each other." I took a sip of my own water to hide the blush I knew was rising to my cheeks. It had been rude to assume that just because one was in a guild and the other was loyal to the empire that they didn't like each other.

"Oh yeah," sang Marita as she shoved him off the bench. He shot her a betrayed look, to which she stuck out her tongue. "Leo and I go waay back."

I quirked an eyebrow. _Leo?_

Liam just laughed and picked himself up. After dusting himself off, he moved to sit across from the guildswoman instead. "Mary and I were friends when we were little, before she jumped ship and joined these tyrants that call themselves a guild."

"Oh, as if! You and I both know who the real tyrants are here." She cut off whatever smart comment he was about to make with a _look_. "Anyway, we both know that I would have shown you up if I'd joined the Knights, so I did your pride a favor. You're welcome."

"You would _not_ have shown me up," he argued. "I've done just fine for myself and I can kick your butt seven ways to Sunday. In my sleep."

"You've never beat me in a fight, Liam."

"Sure I have."

"Maybe in your dreams," Marita scoffed. Tension was rising and Delta and I shared an uneasy look.

"You wanna go, Little Lamb?" My eyes widened and Liam threw down his water, shattering the glass on the pavement.

"You're on, Cowardly Lion."

That escalated quickly.

The nicknames told a more in depth story than either companion was letting on, and let me know that I was clearly missing something. But Liam and Marita were up, lunch forgotten, and were moving toward the grassy area a ways away from the table before I could ask. Delta huffed when they stormed past her and I shared in her sigh.

' _What have you done.'_

"What? You say this like it's my fault." It was definitely not my fault. Probably.

' _They were normal before you spoke up.'_

I scoffed. "I sincerely doubt that either of them have ever been normal." I watched, attitude heading toward bored again as Marita smacked Liam in the shoulder. The breeze carried their laughter my way and I sighed again, placing my chin in my hand. "Do you think I should follow them?"

' _Well at the very least it will be interesting,'_ the spirit grumbled.

"I thought today was interesting," I said, standing slowly. Delta whined. I nudged her with my foot. She only tossed her head before readjusting on the grass, content to stay in the sun and let me have my own fun.

' _You spent the day, and most of last night, might I remind you, chasing down ruffians for a man and an organization you have no obligation to please.'_

I shrugged. "Like I said: interesting."

It beat walking halfway across a desert continent to get to where Yuri was, that was for sure. Curiosity had gotten the better of me, and the Don had shown me on an old map where the rumors said Barbos was building his tower when I asked. It wasn't actually that far – the forest at Keiv Moc was a longer travel, but the terrain and the weather would make it much worse. The northern part of Tolbyccia was a legitimate desert, and between huge sand dunes and harsh windstorms discouraged most intelligent people.

I suppose that's why Barbos built his tower there. He didn't seem like the neighborly type.

Turning my attention back to the inevitable fight in front of me, the knight drew the sword hanging at his side with grand flourish. However, a sudden flash of silver at his elbow had me narrowing my eyes as I put the pieces together.

"Wait, Liam," I cut in. "You use rapier dagger?"

The knight turned, eyebrows up. "Hm? Oh, yeah! It's not super common anymore, but Mary and I both grew up learning it." He nodded over at his counterpart as she brandished her own set of weapons.

"Huh, okay."

"Speaking of the sharp and pointies," Marita spoke up, twirling her dagger around nimble fingers, "that sheath doesn't fit your sword too well, does it?"

"That's because it's not my sword," I said, pulling it free. "Well, it technically is, but it's not what I'm used to."

Liam offered me his own rapier, and I traded it for mine. Marita came bounding over, not wanting to miss out on the show. I slid the dagger from my boot and offered it to her. She took it with greedy hands and immediately started slashing with it, testing weight and balance.

"The first time we met you had a jian, yeah?" I nodded absently at Liam's question, still studying the workmanship of his blade. It was elegant, if simple. Sturdy enough to get the job done, but nothing too special. "But you had this one the other day when the monsters attacked. What made you want to switch?"

I shrugged. "I didn't. Magic shenanigans that I don't fully understand split my jian into these," I motioned to the weapons in their hands, "and I can't figure out how to get them back."

"Yikes," Marita winced. "Rapiers aren't exactly an easy transition from something with a longer reach like a jian. I mean, sure, they're both straight swords, but the weight and balance is all wonky, not to mention the lower aer capacity."

Smaller weapons were known to have a lower affinity for aer due to their sizes, which translated to weaker artes when compared to the same user and a larger weapon. It made sense now, thinking back, why Vibrance hadn't had the same effect as of late. I'd been worried that I was losing my touch.

"And you probably have no idea what to do with the dagger, huh." Marita was twirling said dagger around her fingers the same way she'd just been handling her own. "Shame. It's terribly well balanced. Light as a feather too."

I smirked. "Not so. It's made a great contribution to my culinary skills."

Marita giggled wile Liam rolled his eyes and heaved a dramatic sigh. "Well Little Lamb, it looks like we'll have to postpone this little match of ours for another day. We've got a student to teach."

The guildswoman sobered up in an instant and nodded sincerely. "I'll kick your ass tomorrow, Cowardly Lion. I'll go grab some training props, get her started on forms?"

He saluted lazily as she started jogging backwards. "Yes ma'am!"

I blinked. "Wait, are you two going to teach me the rapier dagger technique? Right now?"

"You got something better to do?" There was a gleam in his eye that told me he knew I didn't. I scowled instead of responding. "Come on, Izzy. We may not be world class, but it's not like you're going to find anybody else out here to teach you. Let us at least show you how to use these things the right way."

And that is how I got stuck with a wooden sword, a wooden dagger, an eager knight, and a manic guildswoman for the rest of the afternoon. I got my butt kicked for the first few hours as they tried to hammer home the idea of a dagger for defense and a sword for offense, despite all of my training screaming at me to not let attacks get close enough to my body for the shorter reach of the dagger to actually be useful.

It was a long couple of hours.

That said, I was a relatively quick study. And it's not like I had much of a choice in the matter. If I wanted to be effective with the weapons I had, I needed to learn how to wield them properly. And Marita and Liam were offering to show me. How could I refuse?

I eventually passed muster, and Marita tossed me my real blades with a grin before nodding at Liam. "Time to see what you can really do."

"You want me to fight Liam?"

"Fight is a strong word," she hummed. "You're sparring. Artes are fine, but no strikes to injure or kill, and we stop at surrender or first blood. Sound fair?"

Liam nodded, a lazy smile on his lips.

Khana scoffed. _'What a childish idea.'_

I told her to shut up. After a full afternoon of absorbing information, I wanted to put it to practice.

"On my mark, then. Three."

Liam cracked his neck and schooled his expression into something more serious.

"Two."

I rolled my wrist and took a breath.

"One."

We locked eyes, and for once there was no sarcasm or teasing light, only the focused energy of two individuals trained to kill.

Now there was a morbid thought.

"Begin!"

We flew at each other in a flurry of steel.

* * *

Splitting this chapter in half because I suck and hit a block about a thousand or two words past this break. On the bright side, the school year has ended which means I can focus on this a little bit more!

Thanks for sticking with me through all these long breaks, guys. I don't mean to do it, but your support means everything to me.

-Han


	16. Chapter 16

Happy happy Pride Month to all of my beautiful people! Ahh, June is one of my favorite months!

My dudes, I had so much fun writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Huge, huge thank you to _CallmeCrazylol_ , _ayafeatkalona_ , and _Mizuna Kurenagi_ , _2 Lazy 2 Sign In, SaRan1999,_ and _Melanie for_ reviewing!

* * *

Marita called it some time later when my foot had found its way to his heaving chest, the flat of my blade pressed firmly to the side of his throat.

"So, we'll call it a draw?"

Needless to say, I'd won.

The technique was still clearly something foreign to me, but after a few initial clashes, I managed to at least figure Liam's style out enough to come up with a plan to counterattack. I was still relying heavily on the rapier, but I'd managed to lull the knight into a false sense of security with feigns and planned missteps that let him slip past my guard in a way that had him overconfident in his own abilities.

Turns out the dagger was good for something after all, and it held true as a second layer of defense. It would be interesting to continue studying more dagger tricks though. I knew that they were more useful than just defense, and it wouldn't hurt to pick up a few more tips from my two self-proclaimed teachers.

Speaking of, Marita was eyeing me with a sort of mocking suspicion. "Are you sure you haven't trained in this before?"

"Pretty sure," I chuckled lightly, still trying to catch my breath. It'd been a while since I had a good challenge like that. Maybe Yuri would be interested in sparring with me when he got back? Or even Estelle, either one would be fine. It was fun. "I think my dad might have fought in this style, but he never taught me personally."

"Huh. Well you picked it up easily enough."

"Meh, I'd say she managed alright," Liam groaned from where he was still laying in the grass.

I shook out my hand, trying to dispel the aer that was still accumulated there. It seemed to hang onto the hilt of my sword, and the stone imbedded in the pommel glinted in light. Still, I had to laugh. "Managed? Boy, you never even had a chance."

Marita's laughter was like wind chimes. "He underestimated you because he knows it's new for you. Other people and monsters, not that the monsters are smart enough to know how to underestimate you, they won't make that mistake and oh my gosh you're glowing, why is it glowing?"

I hadn't been paying much attention to her until her tone started picking up in excitement, still futilely trying to get the aer out of my hands. Eyebrow raised, I followed her line of sight and sighed.

My rapier and dagger were glowing a familiar blue. "You've _got_ to be kidding me."

The two weapons were pulling at one another like magnets, and though I fought the pull for a moment, I eventually allowed them to touch. In a final brilliant flash, the rapier and dagger that I had gotten to know intimately over the course of the last few hours were replaced by the familiar weight of my jian.

Perfect.

"Yo, what the _hell_ just happened?" Liam was staring, wide eyed.

"What happened is the universe hates me," I said, eyeing my weapon. "Do either of you remember exactly what I said?" Maybe if I had the phrase to return them to one, Rita could help me with how to get them apart again. Now that I had a better understanding of how the technique worked, I wasn't opposed to training with it and eventually using it.

"That I never had a chance? Which was rude, by the way. I went easy on you."

Marita cuffed him in the back of the head. "You said 'managed' first."

I nodded, eyes still scouring over the blade in my hand. I'd missed this sword a lot more than I thought I would. Having it back felt almost surreal.

"So do your weapons always do that or what." Liam was trying to play it cool, but the nervous flickering of his eyes told a different story.

"Only when they feel like it," I answered dismissively.

"It's a neat trick." Marita was far less concerned than her counterpart. "Now that you know the basics for the rapier and dagger, switching it up on an opponent in a fight could give you the upper hand."

Now there was an idea. As the others dissolved into their own conversation, a small part of me was wondering if this had been my father's claim to fame. He had to have been gifted with both sword handling techniques since the voice had called the split one of his favorite secrets. Maybe pulling something unexpected on an enemy had been his claim to fame.

Khana hummed when I asked her. _'He was famous for much more than that, I can assure you.'_

"Liam!"

The knight snapped to attention at the sound of his name, his conversation with Martia and mine with the voice fading on the breeze. Flynn, in all of his blonde, goody-goody glory, was standing by the picnic table we'd abandoned a while earlier.

He nodded at Marita and I before turning his attention to his comrade. "We have a lead on Magistrate Ragou's position. You and I have orders to bring him into custody on behalf of the Imperial Knights."

My heart leapt at the simple declaration. Ragou was finally going to get what he deserved. If Yuri and the others held thing up on their end, Barbos would be down sometime soon as well and the blastia smuggling ring would officially be destroyed.

"Don Whitehorse wishes to speak to you as well," Flynn added, almost as an afterthought as Liam rushed to gather his things. Marita's easygoing demeanor melted into one of a woman who meant business. "We will be departing shortly."

With that, the two knights were gone, Liam running ahead and shouting about where he left his armor this time. I could almost feel Flynn sighing as he followed.

I called for Delta as Marita started back toward the Union's headquarter building. Things were about to get interesting, and I was technically still on the clock for the Don. While the guilds still weren't my favorite group of individuals, I'd learned a lot about them over the last day.

They were more than just an opposition to the Empire. They had their own morals and laws, and I was beginning to see the sort of deep and lasting kinship that Karol spoke so fondly of.

I may not understand them, but I'd grown to at least respect them.

"Good, you're back. Get over here, we don't have much time." The Don beckoned us over as soon as we'd entered his chambers in the Union building.

Marita was at his elbow within the same moment, looking over the map laid out on the table. I meandered over a bit slower, not wanting to intrude if I wasn't invited. The look the Don shot my way through his eyebrows let me know that he expected me there too.

It felt nice to be wanted.

The plan was to send Marita and a few other, higher members of Altosk to accompany Flynn and the knights in their pursuit of Ragou to present a united front against the corruption that was plaguing both the Empire and the Guild Union.

"Teaming up with those armored brats is the least I could do for not taking Barbos down when I had the chance," the Don explained when he was questioned by some of his close guildsmen. He looked me dead in the eye as he spoke, and there was something in his eyes that had me smiling in spite of myself.

In that moment, I trusted him.

XXX

Chasing down Ragou had actually been rather anticlimactic. He'd been hiding out about a half an hour's stroll from the southern edge of the city, not even out of sight of the main path leading to the sea. He was a weak man on his own, and likely hadn't wanted to stray too far from the protection of Dahngrest's barrier.

And being weak, he didn't even put up a fight when we'd grabbed him. Well, he'd tried. However, punching and screaming insults at the knights that had dragged him out of the brush didn't do much to deter them from placing thick cuffs on his wrists and pulling him after them as they led the march back.

I only smirked when we'd locked eyes. He'd get no mercy from me. He deserved whatever he got after this.

What he got was dumped in a jail cell while we decided what to with him. Liam and another knight stayed back to keep an eye on him, as did a member of Altosk that I didn't recognize. The rest of us returned to speak with the Don.

"It's done, Don Whitehorse," Flynn said as he swept into the room. That man had a flair for dramatics.

"And it wasn't even fun," whined Marita. She had settled back into her carefree attitude once Ragou was safely behind bars. "Bastard didn't put up a fight or anything. Wasn't even hiding that well."

He waved off her nonchalance with a grin. "Easy there, girl. You'll have your fun some other time. We've got more important things to get done before I can set you on 'im. Boy." He nodded at Flynn, who lifted his head and took a step closer. "You got authority to speak for the knights?"

Flynn nodded. "Until they arrive, His Highness Ioder and Grand Captain Harlock have both granted me permission to speak on their behalf."

' _Impressive,'_ Khana purred.

"Good," the Don was saying. "We've got a draft of that treaty for ya to look over. The sooner we get it done and signed, the better."

Apparently I was the only one surprised at his words. The room burst into a flurry of motion and excited chatter as the knight nodded and approached Whitehorse.

I slid up to Marita, who was watching from the corner of the room with a bored look on her face. She sighed dramatically and flopped her head onto my shoulder.

"Izzy, don't join a guild. They're fun for a minute but then there's _politics_." She pouted. "I hate politics."

I snorted, wrinkling my nose. "Who doesn't?"

"Frickin' everybody else in this room, man."

"So we're the only sane ones left." Sounded about right to me.

She chuckled. "God help us if that's true."

"What's the treaty they're talking about?" I asked to change the subject.

The guildswoman sighed, lifting her head. "It's a rough draft for a peace period between the Union and the Imperial Knights. We came really close to flat out war, which would have sucked for everyone. Since the Council has been pulling strings and nobody actually wants to kill each other, we figured it would be best to call a sort of cease fire in the meantime."

"Huh."

"Yeah, I know, sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?" Her green eyes glittered. "It's more of a 'we'll do our thing and you'll do yours, and we won't bother each other' sort of thing than an admission of friendship though."

"It's a step in the right direction, though." To think that the Empire might see peace with the guilds in my lifetime was exciting. It was encouraging, to say the least.

Marita nodded. "As shitty as it sounds, that smuggling ring actually did us a favor. Without a common enemy to take down, we never would have been able to come together."

"Yeah, well, nobody likes getting played," I added, thinking back to the forged letters.

There was a commotion near the front of the room, and whispers started flying that Imperial Candidate Ioder had arrived. Marita put her back to the wall and slid to the floor with a sigh.

"Better make yourself comfortable, Izzy girl. We're in for the long haul now."

We spent the next hour or so sitting on the floor together before someone came and tapped my shoulder and beckoned me to follow. My companion waved her hand and made some smart comment on contributing to the greater good.

I was led to the center of the room where Don Whitehorse and Ioder were standing over an innocent looking document with pleased smiles on their faces. It looked harmless on the prince, but downright mischievous on the Don's. I was immediately wary.

"Thank you for joining us, Miss Harroway." If I wasn't already on edge, I was bristling at the sound of my last name. The nice thing about travelling with the group I was with was the sort of anonymity that came with it. Nobody really knew who I was. That wasn't the case here, and I didn't like not knowing how the people around me would react to my lineage.

But nobody moved. No sideways looks, no dark glares, no pitying stares. It was as if they didn't care.

Maybe they didn't. Maybe I was just overreacting.

Ioder continued, oblivious to my internal struggle. "We have composed a treaty that will ensure peace between the Empire and the Guild Union, and all that remains is for myself and Don Whitehorse to sign to make it official."

I blinked. None of this was news to me. "Congratulations?"

The Don sighed. "We need a witness, kid," he explained, not beating around the bush. "A third party, someone impartial with no attachments to either side."

I blinked again, still not understanding. "Okay?"

"That's you, Miss Harroway," Ioder nudged, pushing a pen my way.

Khana burst into peals of laughter, and some of it tumbled from my lips when they parted in shock. "You want me to sign your treaty? But I'm not impartial, I'm a citizen of the Empire. My father was a General in your army, I'm not qualified for this."

The Don tilted his head, eyes shining. "Anton was a good friend to me. Trusted him with my life, and I'll trust any kid of his just the same. If anyone can help us bridge the gap between my people and the empire, I think it can be you."

The weight of his words settled heavily on my chest. I didn't just _trust_ people, and it had been my impression that the Don didn't either. To have him say he trusted me so implicitly after knowing me personally for only a few days because of who my father had been to him spoke volumes about his character. I was swelling with pride. He had to have been great to have a man like Don Whitehorse speak so highly of him.

' _You should sign it.'_

 _Friends._ There was a part of me that had been feeling guilty all day for enjoying the company of Altosk. I'd felt like I was betraying my father's memory by getting along with and understanding them, but he had evidently felt the same way. It didn't matter what side you were on. Knights, guilds, it was all the same in the end, so long as you found a home in the people you were with and a reason to fight for what you believed in. And if those ideals overlapped with someone form the other side, you made friends and you maintained bonds because at the end of the day, what else really mattered?

"That and you aren't technically a citizen of the Empire anymore," Ioder said under his breath.

My thoughts ground to a halt _._ "I'm sorry, _what_."

He coughed awkwardly, holding up his hands in surrender. "Well, we have records of you moving to Capua Torim a few years ago, and they're technically not under Imperial Reign. They're run by – "

"By Fortune's Market, I know," I snapped. "What's your point?"

"As soon as you established residence there, you revoked your Imperial citizenship by default. You were theirs to look after from then on. You never reestablished citizenship, so you're technically not ours. And since you don't belong to a guild, you're more of a nomad."

I got very quiet as I turned this information over in my head and tried not to reach across the table and strangle one of the candidates for the throne. That was Estelle's cousin. She would never forgive me if I killed her cousin. I took a breath to calm myself.

"Do you understand," I said in a voice devoid of all emotion, "how absolutely fucked up that system is?"

Ioder paled while the Don just chuckled and leaned back in his chair, content to watch the show.

' _Tread lightly,'_ came a warning from the back of my mind. _'He means no offense.'_

"At least have the decency to let people know when something like moving to a new place could fuck them over in the long run. At least they'd know what they were getting themselves into." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Whatever. I get it now, I'm your perfect impartial third party, just give me the damn pen."

I had to let the two men sign the document first, then wrote my name in looping letters along the third line where ' _Witness'_ had been scrawled underneath. I held my breath as I handed the pen back to Ioder's attendant, but nothing happened. The entire affair was rather anticlimactic.

I slipped out the door, unnoticed as the Don and Ioder shook hands.

Delta was a shadow at my side as I ghosted through the halls of the deserted headquarter building. Sunlight through a stained glass window hinted at sunset, and I sighed, dragging my feet.

"It's been a day, Delta," I said softly, smiling down at my partner. She huffed in response and nuzzled at my calf. I rubbed at her ears fondly.

Shouldering the door open, I stepped out into the disappearing sunlight to take in the main plaza in an absolute uproar.

I had half a mind to turn around and go back to the quiet of headquarters. I'd had enough excitement for one day. Khana prodded sharply at the back of my mind, letting me know what she thought of that plan.

"But like, why can't we just mind our own business for once?" I groaned, stomping down the steps to the main road. "Nothing good ever comes from butting into other people's problems."

"At this moment, Don Whitehorse and His Highness Ioder are in council together," came Flynn's voice over the din of the crowd. "It's only a matter of time before the treaty is made official."

' _You were saying?'_ Khana was smug.

"Nope, still not our business." I was fighting a losing battle, trying to convince myself more than her.

' _Considering you just signed said treaty, I beg to differ.'_

"Shut up, I'm already going." I coughed once, trying to draw attention to myself without actually drawing attention to myself. "I hate you, you know."

Her voice was fond in her response. _'I know.'_

I rolled my eyes, then raised my voice. "It's done, Flynn. The treaty has been signed."

All eyes turned to me, and I raised my chin defiantly and stared at the blonde knight I was addressing, refusing to make eye contact with the rest of the crowd. They were a strange mixture of guildsmen and knights, and I wanted nothing to do with their judgement. Their superiors had made a decision, regardless of their opinions.

Flynn turned, surprised, then smiled warmly when he realized I was the one who had spoken. "Thank you, Isadora. As you can see, we have only come to make peace and to punish a guilty party. There is no need for any more hostility."

"I still don't believe it!" came a shout from the thick of a cluster of knights. My eyes narrowed. I recognized that voice. "How does this, this _little girl_ know the outcome of such a meeting? Blasphemy, I say! Utter blasphemy!"

I could only hope he saw me as I grinned wolfishly in response. "Because I signed it, Ragou. Your dance is over. Nobody is going to let you get away with what you've done."

The magistrate sputtered indignantly, calling a strange combination of curses and pleas for forgiveness in the same breath. Flynn waved a hand indifferently before addressing the knights in the crowd.

"You may continue escorting him, as well as the rest of the Council, to the courthouse for his trial."

Oh man, the whole Council was here for this? That didn't bode well.

The streets cleared in the moments after Flynn's dismissal, leaving me with the blonde and a few stragglers. He smiled and nodded in my direction. "Thank you for your help, Isadora. Both with this crowd and with the treaty. It would not have been possible without you."

I rolled my eyes. "That's a lie and we both know it, but thanks anyway."

"Flynn! Isa!"

I whirled around, eyes wide, as a bundle of pink came barreling into my chest. I stood there awkwardly as Estelle hugged me tightly, not really sure what to do with my hands. I eventually settled for patting her hair a few times and saying hi.

She, of course, was more interested in Flynn. What else was new. I got another hug from Karol and a wave from Rita before they moved closer to bombard Flynn with questions about the treaty.

"You know, I thought they'd be more excited to see me," I said to myself. I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut at being so easily brushed aside. True, I hadn't missed them terribly, they'd only been gone a day, but I had still been looking forward to seeing them again.

"Nobody can compete with Flynn. Believe me, I've tried," came a sarcastic sigh from behind me.

I smirked at Yuri as he came to stand beside me. "Sounds rough, man."

"You have no idea."

We stood in a comfortable silence for a few moments, content to watch our friends overwhelm Flynn for the time being.

"Barbos?"

"Gone," was the breezy response. "He won't be stealing any more blastia cores. We made sure of it."

There was a note of finality in his tone that had me fighting a smile. He was dead, then. Good riddance. "And your aque core?"

"Safe and sound." He patted a pouch at his waist.

I nodded a few times, then furrowed my brow and studied my shoes, suddenly feeling guilty. I let some of that seep into my words. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you get it back."

I saw him shrug out of the corner of my eye. "Seems like you had your hands full with things here."

I groaned and echoed his earlier sentiment. "You have no idea."

"So don't worry about it. If you still feel bad, you can just make it up to me later." I raised my head in time to catch his wink, and I shook my head with a scoff.

"Yeah, alright. If you're ever by Halure and want to cash in on that favor, you know where to find me."

There was a pregnant pause. "Halure?"

I crossed my arms as I turned to face him fully. His face was carefully blank, save for a single raised eyebrow. I bit the inside of my cheek before nodding at his waist. "You have your core. Barbos is dead and Ragou isn't getting out of this scot-free. The thefts will end. That adventure is over."

Khana tried to cut in, but I talked over her concerned _'come now.'_

"We finished at Keiv Moc, which means Estelle is going back to the capitol, which also means that my babysitting job is done. What else is there to do but go home now?"

Yuri was quiet as he studied my face. I studied his in turn.

Looking back, it was interesting to see how far we'd come. Yuri and I had met fighting one another, and hadn't really started to get along until more recently. I still think he hates me more often than not, but I had missed him and his witty banter today. We still weren't particularly close, but we were closer than I'd let myself get with anybody in a long time.

And that wasn't just with Yuri. He was the only other sane one in our ragtag little group, but the rest of them had grown on me too.

Karol was young and naïve and a coward, but he was innovative and excited in a way that made it hard not to be excited with him. I'd smiled more with him around. It was a welcome change.

Rita was a little spitfire, but she was brilliant and strong-willed, and an absolute force of nature when she was angry. Being around her kept you on your toes. It was never dull.

And Estelle was Estelle. She was kind and gentle, and almost fragile. She was a constant reminder that

Friends had always been difficult for me. People in general, I guess. I just didn't understand them. But I was starting to get it with these ones.

I could feel myself growing, and I was confident in the person I was becoming.

I suppose I had Yuri to thank for that as well. He was always so confident in himself that it was nearly impossible not to be confident in his wake.

All of that would change when we went our separate ways. Things would go back to the way they were.

I was going to miss it. I would miss being sure of who I was, I'd miss feeling like the world owed me something, and if it wasn't going to be given to me, I could raise hell, go out there, and take it.

' _You'll miss_ him _,'_ Khana supplied as I struggled to end the silence. ' _Ruffian he may be, but he has been a friend to you. It is alright to tell him so.'_

"Excuse me, Miss Harroway?"

I waited another heartbeat before tearing my gaze, annoyed, from his to address the man asking for me. "Make this good or so help me I will –"

"The trial is about to start and your presence has been requested by two of three parties." He was completely unimpressed with my unfinished threat and spoke quickly before taking a few paces back. I recognized him as one of the Don's messengers, a low-level member of Altosk.

I sighed, rubbing at my eyes. "I'm sorry, Yuri. I have to go. The Don – "

He jerked his head in the direction of the messenger, cutting me off. "Don't keep them waiting on my account."

I blinked at the emptiness in his voice. I took a slow step away from him, not knowing how to react before just turning and following the guildsmen toward the courthouse.

' _What, no witty comeback?_ ' Khana prodded.

But I was resolute in my silence.

There wasn't anything left to say.

* * *

The trial was held in Dahngrest's main courtroom. Seats swept nearly all the way to the high ceilings, benches spiraling up like a snake coiling around the main floor. By the time I made an appearance, people were lining the walls. Knights and guildsmen alike filled the stands while members of the Council were occupying the floor.

I sighed. I did _not_ want to be here.

Delta was behaving herself, at least, which was surprising. Neither she nor I were fond of crowds, but the most she was doing was baring her teeth at those who got too close. On a normal day, I would have been right there baring my teeth alongside her, but this was important. I needed to at least pretend to be mature.

That didn't mean I didn't smirk harshly when Delta snapped at the cloak of a passing Councilman.

I never claimed to actually be mature.

I'd been awkwardly walking around the outskirts of the main floor, trying to figure out where the Don was, or even Ioder, to see if I was needed down there or if I could hide up in the rafters where there were still seats left.

"Izzy!"

"Oh thank goodness," I breathed, turning toward the familiar voice. "Liam, I never thought I'd be excited to see your face."

Said face twisted into a pout. "Hurtful. But whatever, come on. You can come sit with me and Mary." He took my wrist, tugging me along behind him.

I was a little more hesitant. "Wait, I thought the Don needed me."

"Nah, not really." I blinked. That was not the response I was expecting.

"Then why the hell am I here. I don't want to be here."

"You're here," came Marita's teasing voice at my elbow, "because you signed the treaty. The boss and the prince don't need you with them, but in case the Council starts arguing about the validity of the treaty, it'll be easier having you on hand than running around the city trying to find you."

"It's not like I'd be hard to find," I grumbled, allowing myslef to be led away after the explanation. "I'm tired. I'd be sleeping."

' _How mature.'_

"Nice."

"Still, it'd be easiest. Come on, we can bully our way into the lower levels." Marita's smile was downright sinister. "This is gonna be good."

The trial itself started a few minutes after we kicked a couple of knights into the upper levels so we could have their seats. I ended up bracketed by my two companions with Delta was curled up on my feet and I settled in for a long evening of boredom.

I wasn't disappointed. There was a lot of shouting and a lot of dramatic hand motions by members of guilds, knights, and guildsmen alike. It wasn't very interesting. I leaned back as Marita and Liam leaned forward. They had a higher stake in this than I did. I'm sure they'd fill me in if I fell asleep.

I must have actually dozed off because I came back to the present with a start when Liam jolted next to me with a violent swear. Marita was vibrating against my arm, which I soon realized was her seething quietly.

"What'd I miss?"

"The bastard is going to get away with it," Liam spat. "The man's body count is bigger than his reputation but they aren't going to do anything. He is literally about to get away with murder."

"Wait, _what_."

"And we can't do a damn thing." Marita wasn't on her feet like her counterpart, but she wasn't any happier than he was.

' _It is not the job of the Union nor the Imperial Forces to punish the Council for their wrongdoings. It is more of an internal affair. This trial was a way to inform the Council of the Magistrate's actions so they may make an informed decision.'_

That still didn't make sense. He had killed people in that basement of his in Capua Nor, and his blastia had destroyed the ecosystem and nearly ruined the barrier in Halure. He needed to pay for what he'd done.

"Were they even listening? I mean, sure, the Council isn't full of the brightest people in the world - "

' _Which seems counterproductive, as they are advisors to the Emperor.'_

"But they can't be ignorant enough to let that go, right?"

Liam sat down hard on the bench beside me and ran a hand through his mousy brown hair. "I don't think it's a question of ignorance at this point."

I blinked, trying to figure out what he meant.

Oh.

 _Oh._

I spoke softly once I put the pieces together. "The entire Council is corrupt." Fuck. That _sucked_.

"This is bullshit," Marita hissed. "But it's out of our hands."

"Unless we want to team up and go to war with them," Liam mused, simmering down a bit. He fussed with his hair until I smacked his hand.

"You and me versus the Council, Leo? I'll take those odds."

"Old geese won't know what hit 'em."

I snorted. "You're not going to fight the Council."

He gave me a sideways look. "You don't think we'd win?"

I crossed my arms and leaned back. "No, I think you'd kick their asses. That's the problem."

"Kicking ass is never a problem," Marita said haughtily.

"Until they come after you for beating up a bunch of cynical old men." He needed to stop thinking with his sword and start thinking rationally. "They'll be lenient with Ragou because it benefits them, but you? They'll tear you apart, and the Union and the Knights have morals, so you'd actually get in trouble for it."

"Damn, you've got a point." The knight let out a harsh breath. "So what, we just let this go?"

I moved forward to rub at Delta's ears, falling into a habit and trying to calm myself down. My heart was racing. I had an idea burning a hole in my back pocket.

My partner sat up, immediately at attention. She could probably feel my shaking hands hiding in her fur, and it set her on edge. I leaned into her neck, burying my face in her neck to muffle my next words.

"Find Karol for me?"

She sneezed, then disappeared. I smiled, then started planning my escape route. I needed to get to the main floor and sneak out to talk to the kid. He'd be the easiest for Delta to find and drag back here, and I was banking on his inability to keep his mouth shut to tell the others. They deserved to know before it was announced.

Yuri was going to be pissed.

On second thought, so was Rita. She'd probably burn the entire city down trying to get at Ragou. I paled. Maybe this wasn't the best idea. I didn't want to be responsible for the destruction of the guild city.

' _You would rather keep her in the dark and have that wrath directed at you?'_

Yeah, they needed to know.

' _Coward,'_ Khana teased.

"Shut up," I muttered under my breath, standing to stretch. "She'd kill us both, and then you'd kill me again for good measure for getting us killed."

She hummed, but neither confirmed nor denied my assumption.

I spent another few minutes listening to the men on the main floor arguing and ignoring the casual war plans being tossed around by Liam and Marita before ghosting down the aisle and moving toward the steps.

By the time I'd slipped out the door and into the ornate corridor of the courthouse, Delta and Karol were already waiting for me.

"Is! How's the trial? What's going to happen to Ragou?"

It almost pained me to see him so excited about justice being served. He was so young and optimistic. It was a wonder the world hadn't sucked the life out of him yet. I knelt down in front of him and placed my hands on his shoulders. He caught on to my heavy mood and sobered almost immediately.

"The Council isn't going to do anything but slap Ragou on the wrist." Karol's eyes widened in horror. "He's going to get away with it."

"But, but Don Whitehorse –"

I shook my head. "The Don can't do anything but state facts. The Council is responsible for punishing their own, but they won't."

Karol pushed my hands off, pacing backward as he shook his head. "But that's so wrong! Ragou is bad!"

"So is the entire Council," I snapped back. Oh, to see the world as black and white as he did. "Karol, the Union and the Empire's hands are tied here. I didn't bring you here to argue. I just wanted you to know."

The kid took a deep breath and studied his feet very carefully. "I still think it's wrong, but I'm glad you told me."

I nodded. I knew he'd understand. "I have to get back before they miss me too much. See you later, yeah? You can tell me all about Ghasfarost."

His face lit up at the mention of Barbos' tower and I found myself smiling softly in spite of everything. Karol had a natural kind of happiness that was contagious. He ran off down the corridor with promises of a great story.

I sighed, looking back down at Delta. She yawned. I nudged her with my leg before slinking back into the courtroom and plotting murder.

* * *

The trial ended without much fanfare. Marita vanished the second the second the Don exited the courtroom, and most of the spectators filtered out as well. Nobody was pleased with the outcome, save for the smug looking Council members who hung back to gloat.

I don't know why, but I ended up following Liam back to the outskirts of town where the Imperial Knights had taken up lodging in a field just on the inside of the barrier.

"Wow, they're really taking this treaty thing seriously, huh? Gave you nice tents and everything," I smirked.

"You're a riot, Izzy, you know that? An absolute riot." Liam was not impressed, and waved absently at the campground. "At least they didn't run us out of town this time. It's nice not having to take watches."

"Living the life of luxury."

"Clearly," he snorted.

We spent the next few minutes staring up at the stars. It was a beautiful, cloudless night, stars dancing in the dark. The light from the barrier was designed to be faint here, a treat from the mages in charge to remind the guildsmen that a world existed outside of the barrier. It made for quite the view.

"Damn it, Flynn, this is _not_ funny!"

"Ah hell." Yuri was here. This wouldn't end well, if his tone was anything to go by.

Khana sighed in the back of my mind.

Liam's hand was heavy on my shoulder as I tried to follow the sound of his voice. "If those two are going to hash things out, I don't think getting in their way is going to help anybody."

I scoffed and removed his hand. "I doubt they're actually fighting. Yuri just needs to let off steam, and I want to go vent about Ragou's lack of punishment too."

"Okay, fair, but maybe vent to each other later? Flynn's told me stories about how quickly conversations between the two of them can go south." He gave me an uneasy, lopsided grin. "Better to stay away and live to fight another day, dontcha think?"

I couldn't do much else other than roll my eyes. He had a point. Not that I'd ever let him know it.

I shifted my weight and peered back up at the stars until a rustling from my right drew my attention back down.

I stared at the knight, unimpressed. "What are you doing?"

Liam was inching closer to where Flynn and Yuri's voices were coming from.

"Getting closer. I want to hear what they're saying."

What the hell. "Didn't you just tell me not to get involved?"

"Yeah, but I'm nosy." The statement was accompanied by an unapologetic shrug.

"Hypocrite."

We didn't join their conversation, but we did creep close enough that they would have had to be blind to miss us. We stayed a respectable distance away, but we were still close enough to hear what the old friends were arguing about. To absolutely nobody's shock, it was about Ragou. And even less surprising, Yuri was _mad_. It was nice seeing him upset with someone who wasn't me for a change.

Liam started chatting about something I didn't particularly care about, so I tuned him out in favor of observing the two men in front of me.

Flynn had on different armor since the last time I saw him, which struck me as odd. It looked fancier. Shinier. Most people only got upgrades with a rank change.

I squinted. The closer I looked, the more familiar the chest plate of the armor became. "Since when is Flynn a captain?"

Liam looked put out at being cut off, but he shook it off easily enough and shrugged. "Since just before the trial. Weren't you paying attention at all? He got up and addressed the Council and everything."

"Not really."

He muttered something under his breath and rolled his eyes heavenward. "Whatever. Just, pay attention now, it's getting interesting."

I wasn't opposed to eavesdropping, so I tuned in carefully to the soft breeze that was Flynn's voice.

"Someday I'll create a legal order that treats everyone with equality," he promised. "I have to."

I was catching the tail end of the conversation. Of course.

Yuri was nodding. "Good. And in the meantime, I'll do things my own way." He turned his back on the blonde, effectively ending the conversation. Flynn didn't even try to say anything, already familiar with the dismissive gesture.

I let out a tired breath. He was so dramatic sometimes. It was a wonder any of us put up with him.

But the forced calm in the air around him made me wonder if we were on the same page for once.

Yuri's eyes finally met mine, and he jerked his head before starting back toward the main road to the rest of the city. I took the invitation for what it was and lengthened my stride to catch up to him.

We walked in silence for a ways before I stopped and crossed my arms. He had something he wanted to say, and I wasn't going to let him bottle it up any longer.

He had to have noticed that I wasn't beside him any more, but he continued on for a few paces more before he paused. There was another heartbeat of silence as he studied the stars.

"How would you go about punishing the villains that the law can't touch?"

I blinked, caught off guard. Maybe we were on the same page after all, but I had to make sure. "Yuri?"

But he was just shaking his head as if I didn't understand. "The others are at the inn, Arcturus. You should go rest. I'll catch up, I just have to take care of something first."

I didn't answer right away as I tried to find the words to express the sinking in my stomach. Khana whispered that I was disappointed, and I realized she was right. For all Yuri and I had been getting along lately, I'd begun to think that we were starting to understand one another more. We were actually more similar than either of us probably cared to admit, so while I could sense that he was out for blood it almost stung that he couldn't sense the same fire in me.

He didn't think I understood it.

I'd been planning this for a lot longer than he could possibly know. Ever since Capua Nor and the revelation that the ramifications from his weather blastia had almost destroyed Halure, I knew that he would have to pay, even if it meant that I had to get my hands dirty.

I realized I'd been quiet too long when he turned to look at me over his shoulder with curiosity painting his face. There was a question on his lips, but he forced it down as I closed the gap between us to stand by his side.

His eyes were burning, and I met them coolly.

I finally just scoffed and bumped his shoulder with my own in a rare show of comradery. He thought he was alone in this, but he wasn't. Not so long as I was around. "Don't count me out just yet, Lowell. I'm still your scout for a little while longer."

The poor swordsman was so confused, both by my words and by my actions. "What?"

I shot him a wink over my shoulder as I continued on toward town before squaring my shoulders and smirking darkly in the starlight. "I'm making up for the core. Ragou won't know what hit him."

* * *

Wow, and I thought I could get all of this written for the last chapter. That would have been a long one haha.

Can you tell I've gotten more comfortable writing dialogue? Witty banter is so much fun. Liam and Marita are great characters and are almost perfect conversation partners for Isadora – both so open and forthcoming with information, and they can dish out sass just as well as Is can.

ALSO HEY: there's a poll up on my profile for the seduction scene! I have an idea of where I want to go, but I really want to hear what you guys want to see, so head over there and vote! It's happening in just a few chapters, so cast your votes quickly!

-Han


	17. Chapter 17

I know that some of you are aware of all of the technological difficulties I've had in the past month, and I'd like to apologize for being dumb and not having my drafts saved anywhere but to my laptop (like an idiot). This chapter should have been up like, a moth ago but I was so so dumb. On the bright side, my computer is fixed, I have my drafts and outlines saved to a Google Drive and a flashdrive, and I got to hammer out a lot of details in regards to backstories and future events! Yay for small victories!

Also: to those of you who have not yet voted on the poll that is up on my profile, please do! The scene is literally next chapter and since it's not a major plot point or a super big character building moment, I haven't decided who I want to torture in Heliord yet. It's at the very top of my profile, so don't miss out on your chance!

Thank you thank you to _Ruler of the elements, ayafeatkalona, manouchan, Amaterasu-Absol, Centurious the Azure, Nameless Dreamer, and SaRan1999_ for reviewing!

Amaterasu-Absol:

Apparently I am a genius and a Magnificent Bastard :)

Nameless Dreamer:

Thank you so much! Their interactions are some of my favorites to write, even though Yuri is a pain in the butt to try and keep in character. I'll slowly be working in more of the relationship building shenanigans to try and build that friendship in the coming chapters.

* * *

The morning came without much fanfare. Estelle, Rita, and I had shared a room in the Arcturus, and it had been a rather solemn affair. The disappointment of Ragou's sentence weighed heavily in the air when I had returned late in the night, Rita's righteous anger having simmered down to frustration by then.

Estelle was convinced that she could use her status to convince the Council to issue higher charges against Ragou once she returned to Zaphias. She was the Council's choice for the throne, after all. If they were going to listen to anyone, it would likely be her.

She had a valid point, but there was a deeper part of me that had a feeling they were only backing her because of how sheltered and naïve she was. They wanted a puppet, not an Empress. I liked Estelle, I really did, but the Council would sooner feed her to the sharks than listen seriously to a word she said. If she wasn't careful, they would grow tired of fighting to pull her strings and just cut her down entirely.

Khana agreed with me, which didn't do much to help my mood.

But none of that really mattered in the long run. Ragou wouldn't be hurting anyone anymore.

I slipped out of my bed silently, trying not to wake the others before gliding softly into the adjoining bathroom to get ready for the day. I wanted to get going back home to Halure as soon as I could and leave all of this behind me. Well, that was the long term plan, at any rate. I hadn't decided if I wanted to go travel a bit more before settling back down. Short term I just wanted to get out of this city.

I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to work some of the knots out before braiding it back again. It was getting long, reaching around the bottom of my ribcage now. It was starting to become a nuisance. I'd have to cut it soon.

I tied off the end of the braid with a sigh and stared back at my tired reflection. The girl in the mirror blinked dull hazel eyes and bit her lip. She looked a little worse for the wear, but she was alive and she was breathing, and at the end of the day, what else really mattered?

' _Isn't it a bit early for existential questions?'_ Khana quipped. _'Although, after the night you had I –'_

"Spare me the lecture," I cut in with a groan, gripping the sides of the sink. "I'm really not in the mood."

The spirit scoffed. _'You may not be in the mood, but seeing as both you and that black-haired bastard seem to have lost your damned_ minds _, it falls to me to be the voice of reason.'_

"And you _do_ love to be the voice of reason."

' _Isadora, do you have any idea what you have done? What this could cost?'_ She was almost pleading, trying to get me to listen.

My hands turned to ice. The girl in the mirror darkened. "I know exactly what I did. It needed to be done."

' _It was not your job to do.'_

"But somebody had to. Might as well have been us." I did _not_ want to have this conversation.

There was a rough sigh in the back of my mind. _'The events you have set into motion cannot be undone, child. Do you understand this?'_

"Fuck – for the last time, I know what I did!" I was seething, glaring at my reflection. "I know that if anybody finds out there's going to be hell to pay. I know that I risked everything to right that wrong, but what I don't think _you_ understand is that _I don't care_. It was _worth_ _it_."

' _I sincerely doubt that. You cannot see what I can.'_

This time I was the one who scoffed. "What, you expect me to believe that you can see the future? Give me a break."

' _If, for one moment, you would just_ listen _to me –'_

"I would do it again. And just like the last time, you can't stop me. You're just in my head."

There was a beat of silence before she responded darkly to my challenge. _'Oh, believe me, child. I could stop your heart in an_ instant _if I so desired.'_

"But you won't," I smirked. I had her beat. "You need me alive, you little parasite."

' _Please.'_ I could almost hear her rolling her eyes. _'Do not give yourself so much credit. You are not as valuable as you think.'_

Rude.

She had a point though. I didn't really know to what extent the spirit needed my body to survive. Maybe she could kill me off and just continue using my physical body as her puppet. I clenched my jaw and tried not to think about it.

"I'm valuable enough," I decided, turning to leave the bathroom. Once I got back where the others could hear me, the conversation would die. Just because they knew I spoke to the thing in my head didn't mean I liked having them hear. "Otherwise you would have done something."

' _No.'_

I paused, hand on the doorknob and eyebrow raised. "No?" That wasn't what I was expecting, and it didn't bode well for me.

' _No,'_ she echoed. ' _See, unlike you, the sanctity of life is not lost on me.'_

I blinked. Then I smirked. "Sanctity. Points for vocab, parasite."

Khana growled lowly and made to speak again, but I ignored it in favor of opening the door and returning to my human companions. They were much better company, after all. Even when they were asleep.

I thought back to the way Rita had reacted to the news about Ragou's lack of punishment and compared it to the way she looked almost peaceful in her sleep and amended my last statement.

Especially when they were asleep.

Of course, that peace didn't last for long. It never did. The sun was streaming through the window, and Estelle was already stirring. I waited until she sat up to stretch before kicking Delta awake and slipping out of the room. I didn't want to be there when the little mage woke up, after all.

I made my way to the small fountain in the center of the plaza and perched lightly on the edge. The water was crystal clear, reflecting the kaleidoscope of the morning sky. As the blastia powered the movement of the liquid in the basin, it made a tinkling sound that cut sweetly through the din of the waking city. It was like bells. I gave a small, genuine smile.

Delta was snoring at my feet again, and neither of us felt obligated to move even when Karol and Estelle exited the inn a while later. They stood together a ways away, chatting, and it was obvious that neither had seen us yet. That didn't change when Rita joined them a few minutes after.

I watched quietly as the number of Imperial Knights steadily increased in the area.

Delta placed her chin on my knee and blinked up at me with knowing yellow eyes. I reached around to scratch her neck, and she sighed. For a moment, it was like old times – just the two of us enjoying each other's company in a city that belonged to neither of us.

"Is! How long have you been out here?"

The magic of the nostalgic moment broken, I blinked up at Karol's bright face. "Long enough."

He sighed and sat down hard beside me. I moved over so he wasn't touching me. Estelle had her hands clasped in front of her chest and a smile on her lips as she moved to join us as well.

"Man, it sucks that we have to split up," Karol said, splashing his hand in the water. I tried not to roll my eyes.

Estelle was nodding. "The adventure may be over, but please, come visit me at the castle any time!"

"He really will come if you say stuff like that." By the way the kid's eyes were lighting up, I knew that Rita had a point.

It was confirmed not even a moment later when Karol huffed and crossed his arms. "What, didn't she just invite me?"

"Idiot."

I bit my lip to keep myself from smirking.

Karol, bless his oblivious little heart, continued. "It'll be much easier for the guilds to enter the capitol now, thanks to the treaty between us!"

"Of course! I look forward to seeing you soon. And Isa, Rita, you two as well." Rita immediately turned pink, and Estelle beamed. I just sat there surprised that she'd extend that invitation to me. It's not like we were that close, after all. "In the meantime, I promise that I'll do everything I can to see that Ragou receives the punishment he deserves."

The sky was suddenly incredibly interesting, and I just had to marvel at it. Khana stirred angrily in the back of my mind. I told her to shut up and look at the clouds.

A council member I didn't recognize approached the princess, telling her it was time to leave. She nodded slowly, searching the plaza for something.

"Yuri is still asleep," Karol said, catching on. "I can go get him if you want?"

But Estelle only shook her head. "I wouldn't want to wake him just to say goodbye."

I rolled my eyes at her. Of all the reasons to wake the lump up, I feel like that would be a reasonable one. Not that I believed that excuse for a second. Yuri may act lazy, but if I'd learned anything from travelling with him, it was that he was always the last to sleep and the first to wake. The odds of him actually being asleep, even with our late-night escapades, were slim.

He was avoiding us.

How kind.

"Well this has been nice and all, but I've got some work to go do." Rita had regained her composure and stood with her hands on her hips. "I want to go check out those aer krene again. When I finish my analysis, I, ah, I'll pay a visit to the capitol too."

She slipped away without a backward glance.

Estelle sighed as her silhouette disappeared, then turned with a forced cheer back toward us. "So Karol, where will you go from here?"

I found the question odd. We'd been over this before, hadn't we? A dramatic sigh from the council member drew my attention, and it took me a moment of taking in his frustrated posture to understand what was happening. She was stalling. She didn't want to leave.

"I'm going to stay in the city," Karol was saying. "I want to start a guild with Yuri!"

'' _I dread the day that plan comes to fruition,'_ Khana sniffed. _'A guild with the two of them at the helm will get us killed.'_

"That sounds like a great idea!"

I barked out a laugh at the contrasting opinions, drawing the attention of both Karol and Estelle. Their eyes both held questions, but I just waved a hand noncommittally.

"It's nothing, just – just nothing."

They seemed to take my non – answer in stride, but now the princess's focus was on me. "And you, Isa? What do you plan to do from here?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm going home, Estelle. Like you said, the adventure is over."

"Your Highness, we really must be going now." The councilman was getting antsy, and had finally worked up the courage to interrupt our conversation a second time.

"Oh, yes, of course!" Estelle responded with that same forced smile before it melted into something genuine as something occurred to her. "But Isa, won't you come with us? We're headed in the same direction, after all."

I blinked. She had a point there. Halure and Zaphias were both across the sea from Dhangrest, over on the Ilyccian continent, so we would both be travelling east for a while.

"Sure," I said slowly, trying to plan my route in my head. "I'll come with you for a while, but only until Capua Torim. I know these guys want to get you back as soon as possible," I jerked my thumb at the gathered knights, "but I'm going to take my time."

She seemed to wilt when I mentioned that I wouldn't be going all the way back with her, but I tried not to think too hard on it. We'd already talked about her habit of trying to live vicariously through others, so I knew she wouldn't impose her will on me again.

"Alright." She turned to her escorts. "We're ready now."

Karol ran back into the inn as we started making our way to the edge of the city, probably in an attempt to drag Yuri out before we parted ways for good. Something in my chest tightened at that. Yuri wouldn't be coming out and the kid hadn't even said goodbye.

I told myself that it didn't hurt.

' _You're lying.'_

"What the hell do you care, parasite?" I hissed back, following behind Estelle's guards.

She scoffed harshly. _'I am merely calling you out, human. Do not mistake this for concern.'_

"Whatever. Just go away for a while, alright? I don't need you nagging right now."

The spirit didn't respond, but her voice was replaced by a familiar buzzing in the base of my skull. I don't know which was worse. It was never a coincidence when it started, and nothing good ever happened in the aftermath.

That in mind, I warily kept my eyes peeled as we started across the bridge. Tactically speaking, if something were to attack, this would be the best location. The bridge was narrow and long. Mounting a defense here would be immensely difficult given the number of people we had, though it likely wouldn't have been easier with only a handful of individuals. That, paired with the fact that the further we got from the city, the harder it would be for any help to arrive if we needed it, made me the most anxious I had been in a while.

I didn't feel any better when the buzzing grew more intense.

In a stroke of horrible luck, because of course, nothing can be easy for me, nothing happened until we were a little over halfway across the bridge. The faintest of screams could be heard coming from the city, immediately setting all of us on edge. Our attention now firmly on Dhangrest again, we all saw the great creature at the same time.

"What in the _fuck_ is that thing?"

Part of me expected Khana to answer, but I wasn't surprised when she didn't. At least she wasn't shrieking at it. Yet. I'd probably just jinxed myself there. Estelle _did_ respond, however, and she was just as confused as I was.

The knights were scrambling to ready themselves for a fight, swarming to the edge of the bridge with their weapons drawn, trying to get as close as possible.

"I am getting _so_ sick of these random, giant monsters," I groaned. Delta and I herded the princess away from the group, closer to the city and the other side of the bridge. I drew my sword. "Estelle, get behind me."

"Isa, no, I can –"

I knew my eyes were burning when I whirled and cut her off. "I'm sorry, I'm not accepting arguments at the moment. Behind me. Now."

After several tense moments during which I was almost certain that Estelle was going to grow a backbone and move from a rebellious streak to a reckless streak, she moved so I was standing between her and the flying monster.

I relaxed a fraction knowing that to get to her, that thing would first have to go through me.

Which, after some thought, I realized that it could probably do without much strain. That thing was _huge._ Thinking back to Gusios, this bird put the house-like turtle to shame. I would later marvel at just how beautiful the beast was, but the gravity of the moment was weighing too heavily on my shoulders to focus on anything but surviving the next few minutes.

"Khana I know you're mad, but I also know that you probably know what – _who_ – that thing is. I don't need you to like me, I just need to know if it'll kill us."

A beat of silence before: _'He can. Easily.'_

Fucking _peachy_.

"Isa, what's going on? What is she saying?"

I ignored her as I tried to figure out what to do. My thoughts ground to a halt as the voice in my head spoke up once again.

' _I could help you, you know.'_

"Yeah, that sounds good, which I like." The bird thing was picking off knights almost lazily with each pass. I circled Estelle slowly as it soared skillfully through the sky, keeping myself between it and her. "It also sounds like it's going to cost me something, which I like considerably less."

The spirit was indignant in her response, what little patience she had left for me gone. _'I will not offer again.'_

I had hardly begun to weigh my options when the bird _screeched_ and swept the remaining troops into the water below with a single pass of its giant wing. My guard was immediately up, my sword levelled at the thing's face as it lowered itself to hover nearby. Why hadn't it given us the same treatment as the knights?

"It's here … for me?" Estelle's voice was small from behind me as the thing stared back at her with intelligent eyes.

If that was true, this entire situation had just gotten one heck of lot worse.

" _The insipid poison of this world must be purged."_

"Holy hell, it talks," I whispered in awe.

Estelle handled the situation with a bit more tact. "You can speak..! What – who are you?"

The bird made no effort to respond, only staring intently at my comrade.

"Khana, if you're going to do something, now is the time," I hissed between my teeth. Something was about to happen, and I'd be damned if I didn't do everything I could to stop it. As it was, I was too small and far away from the danger to pose any sort of credible threat to it. I needed help.

' _So_ now _you ask for my assistance? What an interesting –'_

I cut her off. " _Please_ , Khana. I don't have time for your passive aggressive bullshit."

She hummed, sounding strangely pleased. ' _Very well. This will hurt.'_

"Wait, what –" I'd barely had time to register what she'd said when my body caught fire.

Not literally, but it sure as hell felt like it.

Though I don't cast often, the feeling of gathering aer is not foreign to me. For myself, at least, it's a warm sensation that fills the veins up all too full. It squeezes at your insides relentlessly until you can release it either in an arte or a spell, and is one of the most insanely uncomfortable feelings in the world.

The pain I was feeling was akin to that, but multiplied by several powers of ten. I staggered a few steps forward, trying desperately to stay on my feet. Estelle couldn't take that thing on by herself. I couldn't tap out now, not when Khana was finally agreeing to be helpful.

But what the hell did she need this much aer for?

I was vaguely aware of Estelle's voice, but I couldn't focus on her long enough to figure out what the words were. Delta whined lowly at my side. In the chaos, I'd forgotten she was there.

The next thing I _could_ focus on besides the pain was a strange light coming from somewhere nearby. My eyes darted back and forth until I closed them tightly. Of _course_ it was coming from me. Why was I even surprised at this point.

I was glowing. Again.

Well, I guess technically Khana was the one that was glowing. I only ever did that when she was up to something, and normal humans didn't just spontaneously light up like I did.

There was something different about the glow this time though. I could feel it. It snapped against my skin like a rubber band as it expanded and contracted with the rise and fall of my chest, and it seeped into my eyes so that everything was encased in a golden haze.

Through the pain, I felt a sense of calm course through me before I was shoved into the back of my own mind. Everything was suddenly _less_. Everything was far away. I was still aware of my body and what was happening around me, but I was much more detached from it all. It was so surreal.

With a start, I realized that this was how Khana saw the world. We'd switched places, and I was now the passive spectator she had been for the past nineteen years.

I didn't know how I was supposed to feel about this.

" _Brother, I beseech you. Stop this recklessness."_ My mouth was moving but it wasn't my voice that came out. I wasn't in charge of my body anymore.

" _The insipid poison of this world must be purged,"_ the bird only echoed itself.

Khana shook my head for me. _"Not in this manner."_ Our feet lifted slowly from the ground as the aer around us shifted to make room for the spirit's immense power. _"Even the worst poison has its uses."_

If birds could scoff, that's what this one did. " _You do not know what you protect. It does not deserve that kindness from you."_

" _She is alive, and therefore deserving."_

" _Your time with the worms has made you soft –"_

" _Do not speak down to me."_ We roared. _"I know what she is. I knew it the moment she was born. I have no love for it, I assure you, but she will control it. Mark my words, I will see to that."_

Before the beast could come up with a smart response, a great, purple formula circle appeared in the sky, swirled once, then fired at the creature in front of us. A warship appeared, crawling slowly out from around the outskirts of Dhangrest. He evaded the shot easily enough, and arced gracefully though the morning air as more circles cropped up and took aim.

All at once, I slammed back into control of my body.

" _Mother fu_ – What the _hell_?" It was not a smooth homecoming. I fell, sword clattering to the ground, no longer powerful enough to maintain whatever levitation my favorite spirit had been messing around with. "That was awful."

' _I told you it would hurt.'_

"Yeah, well, I thought you were being dramatic."

' _Perhaps now you will start listening to me, hm?'_ I waved a hand lazily. My head was pounding, and while the stone beneath me would become uncomfortable in a minute, for the moment it was a blissfully cool contrast to the ache. _'Speaking of dramatic, you should probably get up now. You're fine.'_

I really didn't feel fine.

"Yuri!"

I groaned, though because of the knives the shout sent hurtling into my brain or because of _course_ Yuri was coming to save the day, I couldn't say. I threw an arm over my eyes to hide. The sun was climbing higher and the light was painfully bright.

"What is that..?" I heard him say.

"That's Heracles," Estelle breathed. "Alexei is here?"

I groaned again. I knew the reputation of the Commandant's warship, and hearing that both he and it were here was not what I needed right now.

"You alright down there, Scout?" I shifted my arm and squinted blearily up at the shadow that was my friend. He offered a hand. "That was quite the light show there."

I took the hand and allowed him to haul me to my feet. The moment I was vertical I immediately wanted to be horizontal again, so I leaned forward to press my forehead into his shoulder as I tried to regain my composure. "I aim to please you, Lowell."

"Well, color us impressed." He pat my shoulder gently before turning his attention back to where Karol was floundering. I appreciated the intentional shift in focus.

"That thing is out of control, we need to get out of here!" the kid was shouting.

Yuri made sure I was stable, then stepped away to talk more with Estelle. Delta was quick to take his place, her presence between my legs steady and comforting. I reached down with a sigh to rub at her ears. She nosed my hand before licking at it with her sandpaper tongue.

"Hey." The barely contained urgency of Yuri's tone had me turning sharply. He stood to my left, toward the woods and toward freedom, Karol and Estelle a ways behind him with worried looks etched into their faces.

My slow brain suddenly understood what was happening. "You're staying together."

"Come with us or stay here. It's your choice."

And it _was_ my choice, wasn't it? Over the past few weeks, I'd been fighting with every authority that had tried to make my decisions for me, and I knew – I _knew_ – that Yuri had a habit of convincing people to do exactly what he wanted while still letting the person think the choice was theirs alone.

But the way he held my gaze was inviting, holding no sense of the disappointment or judgement I'd come to fear from him. Some wall between us had crumbled with the events of last night, and I realized with a start that I trusted him. I trusted him more than I trusted anyone else.

I was at a crossroads. Down one path was the safety of a familiar and quiet life, while the other held the promise of adventure and discovery. I'd been so looking forward to returning to the one, that I'd never even thought to give the second a fighting chance. Who knew what opportunities I'd already missed, what other experiences I would be missing if I left now?

The sound of the cannons grew impossibly louder, the explosions closing in on our position.

"Scout?"

I felt something inside me shift. They wanted me to go with them. They didn't need me, but they _wanted_ me.

And I wanted them.

I nodded, and he smiled. My choice was made. My fate was sealed.

* * *

Leaving Dahngrest involved a lot more running than I'd anticipated. The Imperial Knights were after us, again, if only to retrieve Estelle and return her to Zaphias per the original plan. Our favorite princess, however, had made up her mind to learn more about the people of her empire firsthand and wanted nothing to do with following the plans others had laid out for her.

We had that much in common, at least.

Some star must have been smiling down on us, because a stray shot from one of Heracles's cannons absolutely destroyed the one bridge out of the east edge of Dahngrest. The separation was more than just between us and the knights; it was also a personal separation for each of us as we let go of something that had been holding us back. It was almost poetic.

Yuri had returned the aque blastia's core to a distraught Flynn in the aftermath, making him swear to return it to the Lower Quarter on his behalf. Once we had his word, we left.

That had been a few hours ago. The sun's light was lazily dripping away the closer it got to the horizon, and evening would be upon us soon. Our desperate run had taken us farther south and west than we'd expected, so we were too far from Heliord to try and make it to the city before nightfall. With nothing better to do, we decided to keep heading south and just explore the continent for a while and camp out when night came.

It was then that I met Judith.

Well, formally met her. We'd picked her up in the chaos that was the Heracles incident, but were offered no time to get past an exchange of names before we had to shake the knights. Now that we weren't in a rush, I had time to pay more attention to the strange Krytian.

The first thing I noticed were her red eyes.

I tried not to let the small fact sway me, but I was inherently distrustful of people with red eyes. The rest of the group seemed to like her well enough, and I figured that judging her on that fact alone was unfair. I made sure that Delta was never farther than an arm's length away in case I needed a distraction.

"We met her at Ghasfarost!" Estelle was saying about our new friend. "She and Yuri were together when we got there, and she helped us take down Barbos."

I eyed her warily, not enjoying the implications that came with those statements. "Did she now."

Judith smiled, eyes closed. "It was fun!"

I hummed, unimpressed. "I'm glad."

"Yeah Is, she was great! She was all like 'yaah' and Barbos was like 'noo' and we were all like 'yeah!' and man, I wish you could have been there!" Karol was acting out part of the fight for me, to which I had to fight to keep a straight face. I enjoyed these little reminders that he was still a kid.

"Sounds like you guys had more fun than I did. Politics are a bore."

The mention of the inner workings of Altosk had Karol at my elbow in an instant, and he grabbed at the sleeve of my shirt. "But you did so much for the guilds, I'm sure you had a great time working with the Don!"

"Karol, I saw the Don for about ten minutes while you were gone. He was busy. So was I." I tried to shake him off, but the kid didn't pick up on the cue. I sighed and looked at the sky.

"Still, the guilds are great!"

"They're alright," I allowed.

"They helped you get your sword back, didn't they?" Estelle cut into the conversation gracefully. She blinked back innocently at the glare I shot her way.

Still, I touched the hilt of my sword fondly. "Yeah, I guess they did. If Rita were here she'd probably have that spell figured out by now."

"So you did cast a spell on it," Yuri accused teasingly.

"Unintentionally," I corrected. "But I think it might be a good idea to learn it and train in the other style too. At the very least, I'd know how to get the rapier and dagger back if I wanted them."

"But you're back on normal mode for now."

I rolled my eyes at the old joke. "I wouldn't want to level up too quickly and leave you all behind, now would I?"

"How kind of you."

I turned the smiling Judith, my eyes narrowing a touch. Khana hummed lowly in the back of my mind, and I breathed hotly out my nose. My head still hurt from her earlier stunt.

"I'm so glad everything is back to normal." We all turned to Estelle, whose mouth was drawn tight in a concerned line. "If that monster had attacked and we weren't ready…"

As she trailed off, her eyes fluttered closed.

Delta and I shared a look. She eventually ghosted over and rubbed up against the princess's leg, purring deeply. Estelle opened her eyes and smiled softly down at her.

"Thank goodness Khana was there to talk it down."

I grimaced. "Yeah. Woo. Go Khana."

"Who is Khana?" Judith's question was innocent enough, but I tensed. I'd gotten more comfortable with the idea of my companions knowing about the voice in my head, but I knew almost nothing about Judith. Something about letting her in on the secret made me anxious. I had to be careful with how I approached my answer.

"She's this spirit that lives in Is's head!"

Damn it, Karol.

"Is that so?"

I turned to face Judith with both my chin and an eyebrow raised. If I couldn't control what she knew, I could at least control how she thought I felt about it. And if she thought I could have it kill her in the meantime, even better.

"Problem?"

"No, not at all." She clasped her hands behind her back as she walked. "I just think it's rather interesting."

"Hey, everything worked out though!" Karol piped up. "Even if Khana hadn't done what she did, that thing would have had no chance against the might of the Union!"

I scoffed, welcoming the shift in attention. "Is that why they needed Alexei to run it off?"

As Karol dissolved into an indignant fit, I pondered the situation. It was after Estelle, that much was clear, though I might have been a bit too close to be objective about it. But the thing wasn't attacking Dahngrest. It posed no immediate threat to the city itself, nor to anyone affiliated with a guild.

I didn't voice my realization that the Union probably wouldn't have helped us.

By the time I returned to the conversation at hand, the topic had shifted to a different monster.

"But that still doesn't explain it. Ragou was going to get pardoned, why would he run?"

Yuri and I shared a brief look before he put a swift end to that Karol's line of questioning.

"He'll get what he deserves. Let's not worry about it too much."

"Yeah, I'm sure that with the new treaty in place the Union and the Knights will be working hard to bring him down together!" Karol said.

I snapped my fingers once, and Delta was immediately at my side once more. I glanced over my shoulder at the others and nodded at the path ahead. "We'll be back."

Karol and Estelle looked disappointed, but Yuri nodded. He understood my need to avoid this conversation. If the forced ease of his stance was anything to go by, he wanted to avoid it as well, but he was too social with the group to run away like I could.

"See you soon, Scout."

I melted into the grass and disappeared.

* * *

I didn't go far. Every time I looked back, I waited until I could make out at least one of my companions before I carried on. Delta was also running back and forth between us, so they at least knew I was nearby. Repede came back with her once, sniffing at my feet before trotting back to his own partner.

We'd been walking for hours and hours in silence, and as much as I liked being by myself the quiet was starting to get too loud. I tossed the idea of heading back to the others a few times, but knew that I'd only end up leaving again when they started to get overbearing.

A part of me also knew that I would have to get used to it. We'd be travelling together for a while.

Still, I'd enjoy my peace while I had it, thank you very much. Unfortunately, that left only one conversation partner before I started getting lost in my own thoughts.

I sighed, kicking at the ground. "Hey, Khana?"

The voice hummed.

"That thing you did earlier, when I wasn't in control of my body? I don't understand."

' _Was there a question in that statement?'_

I shook my head, trying to find the words. "You could do that any time you want, can't you."

There was a pause. _'In theory, yes.'_

I let out a breath that was a lot steadier than it should have been. "Okay. That's not reassuring."

' _In theory, child. It would be much more difficult in practice.'_ The spirit's laughter was like bells.

"Please don't talk in riddles right now," I sighed, rubbing at my temples. "My head still hurts."

' _Exactly.'_ I blinked. She continued with a sigh. ' _To overpower your consciousness, I had to call on massive quantities of aer to give my own consciousness enough power to speak with my brother on even footing.'_

"Okay, can we come back to the brother thing in a second?"

' _Sure,'_ came the amused reply.

"Great. Okay. I'm following you so far."

Khana hummed again. _'Tell me, how are you feeling? You mentioned your head was bothering you?'_

I scoffed. "Yeah, no thanks to you."

There was silence.

Oh.

Oh, I was dumb.

I smiled at my feet. "Even when you're mad at me, you still don't want me dead. You're going soft."

' _Lies and slander.'_

We walked in silence for another few minutes before another thought struck me. "What would happen to you if I died?"

' _My brother's name is Phaeroh. He is kind, though his temper is short. I remember when the world was young –"_

I held up a hand. "Not that I don't appreciate you being honest for a change, but that's not what I asked about."

' _Technically, it is,'_ she sniffed. _'My apologies for attempting to maintain a linear conversation.'_

"Khana."

She sounded tired when she spoke again. _'Isadora, can we please not have this conversation right now?'_

I stopped in my tracks, causing Delta to run into the back of my legs. "I'm just curious. We've shared the same space for as long as I can remember, is it so hard to believe that I might care about what happens to you?"

' _I suppose not. After all, I have grown rather fond of you as well.'_

I grinned. "I knew you liked me!"

' _I take it back. You're insufferable.'_

"You love every second of it."

' _Please kill me now.'_

Our walk dissolved back into a comfortable silence, and I didn't push her for a change. We were headed south through a quiet section of the woods, heading for the sea. We hadn't been attacked by monsters since we left Dahngrest, which turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, I didn't have to kill anything. On the other, I was bored. Talking with the voice in my head was fun until I remembered how crazy it must make me seem.

The wildlife wasn't particularly noteworthy either. Nothing was, after traversing the anomalies at Keiv Moc. I stopped every now and again when I spotted a familiar plant or a pretty flower and added them to my bag for later. I'd been getting lax about keeping my stores stocked, and while I'd been lucky so far and hadn't gotten seriously injured, I didn't wat to be caught off guard.

After a while of counting the trees, something in the repetitive scenery finally changed. It wasn't obvious right away, just a faint rushing sound in the background of the typical forest cacophony, but it grew louder with every step. I smiled, picking up my pace.

It wasn't long until I was standing on a beach, looking out at the ocean. We probably wouldn't be going any further than this tonight, so I took a moment to myself to just enjoy the view. The sun was beginning to set over it, casting a brilliant rainbow out across the horizon.

It was peaceful.

There was something comforting about the shade of orange that painted the sky, changing abruptly from the bloody red that had decorated it a moment earlier. I sighed, looking down at my feet. Delta blinked back up at me and I crouched to put my arm around her.

"I don't regret it, you know," I tried to explain to whoever could hear me whispering. "He deserved to pay for what he did, and I wasn't going to let Yuri go through that on his own."

My partner nosed at my cheek, no judgement in her soft yellow eyes. She understood. Probably. My cat was deceptively smart.

I heard the rest of the group coming up the path, and had to smother a laugh with my hand as Karol sprinted to the water's edge. He threw his hands in the air and started shouting at the waves.

I stepped carefully as I made my way over, wolfish grin on my lips. I was willing to bet money that he hadn't seen me yet, and I wasn't one to pass up the opportunity to catch him by surprise.

When I was close enough, I leaned into his ear and whispered "Pretty, isn't it?"

Karol whirled, hands coming up into a defensive position as he yelped. He panted heavily for a few long moments, eyes screwed shut as I controlled my expression back into something passive. He blinked when he realized nothing was attacking him.

"Oh man, you scared me Is!" Karol whined when he realized what had happened, hand over his heart. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

I just raised an eyebrow at him before looking over at Yuri. He smirked as he approached and placed a hand on his hip. "Maybe we should put a bell on you."

"You're hilarious," I said with a vague frown. "Should we get matching ones then?" Yuri had a habit of sneaking around just like I did. It wasn't fair for me to be the only one called out on it.

He shrugged, grin still firmly on his lips. "Sounds good to me."

Whatever.

Karol was still going on about whatever it was he had been talking about before I'd scared him, talking over the conversation Judith and Estelle had been having in the meantime. I ghosted over to stand closer to the princess. I didn't actually distrust Judith, per se – Yuri seemed to like her just fine which spoke volumes in its own right – but there was something familiar and off-putting about her presence that set me on edge. I'd rather be cautious now than sorry later.

Delta trotted over to Repede and flopped down on his tail before swatting at the straps crisscrossing his body. Repede tossed his head at her but made no move to fight her. I huffed out a laugh, glad that they were finally getting along.

We decided to set up camp just inside the trees along the water. Jobs were delegated and I'd somehow drawn the straw for cooking dinner. Joy.

I'd settled on something easy after looking at what I had in my pack and what Karol had in his, and thanks to a special set of runes on the bottom of the pot Karol had given me, the stew I'd picked was ready by the time the sun had finished setting.

I tried not to be sassy at my friends' surprise at my ability to cook. I'd been on my own since I was 9. I sort of had to be a good cook.

I sort of zoned out as everybody struck up dinnertime conversations in favor of watching the stars. We were out in the country, far enough away from the rest of civilization that there was no light pollution to hide their beauty. I closed my eyes to the white noise of my companions and the soft crackling of our fire, my mind taking me back to simpler times and wonderful adventures I'd almost forgotten.

It stayed that way for a while until someone said my name and drew me back to the present.

"You'll be joining too, won't you Isa?"

"Joining what?" I didn't even pretend that I'd been paying attention, but I did open my eyes and push myself up onto my elbows. Delta huffed when I shifted and shook her awake from where she had been curled into my side. I blew a raspberry at her. She was fine.

Estelle gestured to Karol and Judith. "Karol's guild."

I glanced at Yuri out of the corner of my eye, surprised that he wasn't going to be in charge of their guild. Khana sighed in the back of my mind and I hummed. I guess it wasn't that surprising after all. Yuri wasn't a spotlight sort of person, which I could respect. Not being in charge would allow him the freedom to work in the wings and be more hands on with jobs. He also wouldn't be under scrutiny from the rest of the Union like a boss would. It was actually a good move on his part.

But I couldn't be a part of it.

"Yeah!" Karol said, fist in the air. "The Super Ultra Courageous Braves!"

A startled laugh found its way past my lips. "I'm sorry, what?"

"The Super Ultra Courageous Braves," he repeated earnestly. "It's what I named our guild."

"Yeah, well, if that's what it's called I'm glad I'm not joining."

"Wait, what? Why not?" The look on Karol's face made it seem like I had kicked his puppy. "Don't you like us?"

"That's not fair, Karol," I scoffed, laying back down. "How much I tolerate you has nothing to do with it."

"But then why not?"

I sighed harshly. "Because I can't. Not right now, at least."

Estelle, ever the bright one, caught on first. "It's because of the treaty you signed, isn't it."

I breathed heavily through my nose in affirmation. "'Impartial third party' and all that. I may not be politically inclined, but I know how my joining a guild so soon would look to some people. I don't want to be the reason that the Council can tear the treaty to shreds." It was too important for maintaining peace between the Union and the Knights.

"Damn, that's a tough spot," Yuri chimed in.

I waved a hand in the air. I'd done it to myself. Besides, guilds meant rules, and we all knew that I wasn't one for following those.

"Maybe once everything calms down with the Council then?"

"Maybe," I allowed. Estelle sounded so hopeful and I didn't want to completely crush her spirits yet. "Timing just sort of sucks right now." I left out the part where I was grateful for it. They didn't need to know.

Although from the way Yuri was shaking his head and Judith's pointed stare was burning a hole in my head, I wasn't sure that some of them hadn't already figured that part out.

I needed to stop being so predictably antisocial.

Khana laughed in the back of my mind and I knew that she agreed.

"Whatever," I eventually sighed, rolling over and pushing myself to my feet. "We don't have any of those temporary barriers, do we?" Karol shook his head. "Figured. I'll take first watch then."

Judith smiled widely and nodded. "I can take the second shift then."

I hesitated at the offer, eyes shifting to gauge Yuri's reaction. He seemed relatively at ease with the idea and shrugged, leaving the choice to me. Typical.

"Sure."

I may not have trusted her fully, but if Yuri was comfortable with her watching our backs for a few hours then I could be too. She'd still have to prove herself to me, and I held her gaze long enough to let her know that. Her smile didn't lessen.

I couldn't decide if it was comforting or not.

* * *

-Han


End file.
